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GOP Drops Push to Repeal ACA Mandate in Tax Bill

By Anna Edgerton

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There are no plans to add the repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate to H.R. 1, the House tax bill, according to a person who is helping write the law.

While the situation surrounding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill is still fluid, if that provision is added, it would most likely be added to the Senate version, said the person, who asked not to be named when speaking about internal discussions.

(Related: Key GOP Senator Susan Collins Lays Out Her Demands for Tax Bill)

House Speaker Paul Ryan said on “Fox News Sunday” that House Republicans were considering adding the mandate’s repeal to the bill. Doing so is estimated to raise $416 billion over a decade, which could be used to offset tax-rate cuts. President Donald Trump has posted Twitter messages supporting the move.

But party leaders worry that reopening the politically painful ACA debate would cost them crucial votes on a tax bill. A “skinny” repeal of ACA that scrapped the individual mandate failed in July to pass the Senate after three GOP senators defected.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the House Ways and Means chairman, said in a statement Monday night that he and others are “working on common-sense temporary and targeted relief” from taxes imposed by the ACA, but suggested the House will act on them separately “before the end of the year.” 

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