Donald Trump took credit on Wednesday for repealing the Affordable Care Act as part of the Republican tax cut bill, even though the Obamacare law is still on the books.
The tax package does cancel the tax penalty imposed under Obamacare on Americans who violate the ‘individual mandate’ by choosing not to buy medical insurance.
That, the president said during a cabinet meeting, is just as good as scrapping the law entirely.
‘The individual mandate is being repealed. When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed because they get their money from the individual mandate,’ Trump said.
Donald Trump took credit on Wednesday for repealing the Affordable Care Act as part of the Republican tax cut bill, even though Obamacare is still the law
Democrats were upset at a feature of the bill that axed the Obamacare ‘individual mandate’ penalty, a tax paid by Americans who don’t buy medical insurance
‘Not only do we have massive tax cuts and tax reform, we have essentially repealed Obamacare. And we will come up with something that will be much better, whether it’s block grants or whether it’s taking what we have and doing something terrific,’ he added.
‘But Obamacare has been repealed in this bill.’
Technically the individual mandate won’t disappear when Trump signs the new tax measure into law, but the IRS won’t be able to collect the fines beginning with the 2019 tax year.
It remains in effect for 2018, complete with a penalty that starts at $695 per adult and goes up for high-income earners.
The U.S. Senate’s attempt to push an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill across the finish line in July because of Sen. John McCain’s surprising thumbs-down at the last minute.
Trump promised later that a new Obamacare-killing bill would pass early in 2018.
‘Long before the November election, we’re going to have a vote,’ he said during an Indiana rally in September.
‘We will do the block grants, we will do the health care,’ Trump pledged then.
Speaking Wednesday with reporters present and shutters clicking, the president said he had tried to keep the Obamacare tweak a hush-hush affair so the press wouldn’t turn it into front-page news.
Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement is still on the books but the Republican tax package will weaken it
‘We didn’t want to bring it up. I told people specifically, “Be quiet – with the fake news media – because I don’t want them talking too much about it”,’ he told his cabinet.
‘I didn’t know how people would [react], but now that it’s approved, I can say the individual mandate on healthcare, where you had to pay not to have insurance, okay? Think of that one: You pay not to have insurance. The individual mandate has been repealed,’ he proclaimed.
Tax analysts predict that without the threat of a fine, about 13 million fewer Americans will opt to buy insurance.
A senior administration official said Wednesday afternoon that the president supports passage of a bipartisan Affordable Care Act stabilization bill in January.