Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Proposed Tax Reform legislation in the United States has taken a surprise change of direction on Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee decided to include a repeal of the individual mandate which is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The Tax Reform Bill is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate before United States Thanksgiving, November 23.

The Republicans are hoping they will be able to muster enough votes to pass tax reform legislation which includes a repeal of the individual mandate. The passage of the Tax Bill requires 51 votes, and the Republican Party has 52 members in the Senate. If they get the support of all Republican Senators they will not rely on support from any Democrats.

Republican senator Susan Collins from Maine said she will decide how to vote only after examining the full bill which was scheduled to be released by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday night. She was concerned that the repeal would result in an increase in the cost of health care insurance premiums. “I personally think that it complicates tax reform,” she told reporters after a GOP lunch on Tuesday.

On the other hand, including the repeal in the Tax Reform Bill is expected to gain the support of Senators such as Republican Rand Paul from Kentucky who supports the repeal of the ACA.

Efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the Senate have failed four times already. The Republican Party has vowed to repeal the ACA, claiming it is too expensive and inefficient, but has failed to convince all of its members to vote for the repeal.

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