Americans would no longer be required to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate or face a penalty under legislation introduced by U.S. Reps. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) on Tuesday.
Tiberi, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said patients and families, not the federal government, should be in charge of making health care decisions.
“… The individual mandate is forcing Americans to purchase plans they don’t want, don’t need, and can’t afford to use,” Tiberi said. “This legislation would provide relief to Americans who are trapped in overpriced and unreliable Obamacare plans and eliminate the threat of an unfair fine from the IRS.”
The individual mandate requires people to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty of up to $2,085 per year. Tiberi and Burgess’ bill, H.R. 3725, would terminate the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty on Dec. 31, 2017.
“Obamacare’s individual mandate fundamentally alters the relationship between the government and the governed, severely limiting individual freedom,” Burgess, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, said. “Since its conception, the individual mandate has been a direct attack on our personal liberty. This bill will provide the American people immediate relief from this overstep.”
For tax year 2016 through April 27, 2017, 4 million Americans paid an average penalty of $708 for not having health insurance, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service’s Taxpayer Advocate Service.