Efforts by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) to protect middle class workers and seniors from tax increases handed down under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) advanced on Wednesday.
The House of Representatives approved McSally’s Halt Tax Increases on the Middle Class Act, H.R. 3590, which would prevent an increase in the threshold for medical cost deductions under the ACA, with bipartisan support.
Under the ACA, the deduction limit for individuals with high medical costs was increased to 10 percent of adjusted gross income. McSally’s bill would return the threshold to 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.
“Though it has not received much attention, the medical expense deduction means a great deal to some of the most vulnerable Americans,” McSally said. “According to recent data from the IRS, more than 8 million people use this deduction, with more than 80 percent earning less than $100,000 a year and 49 percent earning less than $50,000 a year. This deduction is extremely important for low-and middle-income Americans who have already spent thousands in out-of-pocket costs and cannot afford another shock to their wallets and pocketbooks.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) said that the seemingly small change made by the ACA has become a big problem for individuals, families and seniors claiming the deduction who have already spent large amounts of their personal income on medical care.
“The bill in front of us today will fix the Affordable Care Act’s counterproductive tax increase that has already been imposed on individuals and families, and it will protect seniors from facing the same tax increase by permanently allowing everyone to deduct qualified medical expenses above the pre-ACA level, the Affordable Care Act level, of 7.5 percent,” Dold said.
U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said that the legislation would rollback an “onerous” tax increase that impacted more than 3.8 million households in 2016 alone.
“We should encourage patients to seek the care they need, not create more burdens and restrict access to medical care, as this Obamacare tax does,” Tiberi said. “I’m a proud cosponsor of this bill. I’d like to thank Congresswoman Martha McSally from Arizona for her passion for this legislation, her tireless work for this legislation, for testifying before the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and for trying to help those 3.8 million households in America.”
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) added that the bill would provide a measure of financial relief to those who need it right now.
“We should be doing everything we can to help them, not hurt them,” Boustany said. “(We must) especially protect them from the ravaging consequences of this horrible law that has devastated and really wrecked our healthcare system.”
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) said that the ACA ups the amount Americans would have to spend on medical costs to qualify for the tax reduction at a time when they are already paying out more for healthcare costs.
“Seniors initially got a reprieve from this Obamacare tax hike, but that ends next year,” Black said. “This means that, on top of dealing with Obamacare’s cuts to Medicare, the harmful medical device tax, and the looming threat of the law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board – or ‘IPAB’ – seniors will also be forced to adjust to a new tax rule that hits them right in their pocketbook. This is yet another example of how the president’s healthcare law hurts the very people it pretends to help.”