Affordable Care Act Reform Moves Forward In The U.S. House

According to U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), a framework for legislation to reform the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) so that the office can assess the impact the bill will have on the federal budget. This step is the first one in the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace the 2010 law. 

The framework for the legislation is available on the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) website. 

While the Republican outline would repeal of many of the burdensome taxes associated with the ACA and also eliminates the penalties for the employer mandate, it is generally focused on allowing more flexibility in the individual health insurance market. According to NAM, what is not addressed and is still being debated, is a proposal to put a cap on the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored healthcare benefits. 

Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots for more information as this bill moves forward. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means will begin working on the details of the package, which will need a broad base of support among the Republican members in the House to succeed, after the Congress returns on Feb. 27 from its recess.