That’s why tax-focused supporters of the American Health Care Act should be wary: It is not only flawed as a health care bill.
The House Health Care Disaster Is Really About Taxes -
By PETER SUDERMANMAY 6, 2017
I have been a critic of Obamacare since it became law, but the Republican alternative is worse in nearly every way.
Even for an opponent of Obamacare, it is difficult to understand why House Republicans chose this path to revamping the nation’s health care system.
That is where the American Health Care Act comes in: It would eliminate roughly
$1 trillion in taxes used to pay for the additional spending in Obamacare.
Those options would require tax increases of a size
that might otherwise make even many Democrats think twice — and would make the higher taxes included in Obamacare seem paltry by comparison.
The American Health Care Act, which was narrowly passed in the House last week, would worsen Obamacare’s problems rather than fix them.
Republicans planned to use the reconciliation process to go it alone on both health care and tax reform.
Because it cuts taxes — especially for the top 20 percent of earners —
and so sets up the broader tax reform legislation Republicans hope to pass later in the year.
Why then did House Republicans push so hard to pass this health care bill?