December 25, 2016
WE'LL REFORM IT, NOT REPEAL IT:
GOP and Dem Governors Are Closing Ranks Against Obamacare Repeal (Eric Pianin, December 23, 2016, Fiscal Times)
Republican and Democratic governors rarely see eye to eye, especially when it comes to spending on big ticket items like food stamps, unemployment insurance and other social services.But as the Senate Finance Committee prepares for a roundtable discussion with GOP governors next month to discuss the impact of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and expanded Medicaid coverage, governors from both parties are warning of potentially disastrous consequences for state budgets if GOP leaders make good on their pledge to repeal Obamacare.Nearly half of the 31 states and the District of Columbia that agreed to expand their Medicaid coverage under Obamacare are controlled by Republicans - including Vice President-elect Mike Pence's home state of Indiana. Since the Nov. 8 election, Republican governors such as Susana Martinez of New Mexico have voiced alarm over possibly losing millions in federal funding to provide Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance coverage for seven million people.
Republicans Are Having Second Thoughts About Scrapping Obamacare Taxes (Eric Pianin, December 22, 2016, Fiscal Times)
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/12/22/Republicans-Are-Having-Second-Thoughts-About-Scrapping-Obamacare-Taxes
[I]t is now dawning on the Republicans that repealing the dozen or so major Obamacare tax increases along with the premium subsidies for low and middle-income Americans would seriously crimp their effort to devise and finance a substitute health insurance program down the road.Obamacare is financed by a combination of tax increases, Medicare tax increases and cost-saving measures, and other federal and state tax revenues. When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it required hospitals, the health insurance industry, medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to share in the cost because of the huge profits they would likely accrue from millions of new paying customers.Republican critics of Obamacare have long derided these additional taxes - especially the 2.3 percent medical devices tax, a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services, and taxes on brand-name drugs and health insurance companies selling policies on and off the government exchanges as millstones around the necks of businesses large and small.They have also targeted two other Obamacare tax hikes on the earnings and investments of those making more than $250,000 a year.But there is compelling evidence that if the Republicans go ahead next month and scrap all the taxes hikes as part of an overall repeal of the Affordable Care Act, they will not have enough revenue to finance a replacement plan.Obamacare operating costs are likely to total $1.24 trillion between 2019 and 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A new Brookings Institution analysis released earlier this week estimates that only 40 percent of that total - or $496 billion - would be available to finance a Republican replacement over that same period if all the existing tax provisions were scrapped.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 25, 2016 10:30 AM