Nov. 28: Nov. 28, update CBO Score: The new score includes the impact of removing the individual mandate from Obamacare. It verifies that premiums would rise so much, 4 million could not afford health insurance by 2019 and 13 million by end of bill. Also, the middle class cuts go away and hurts them.
https://secondnexus.com/news/report-new-cbo-score-senate-tax-reform-plan/
The CBO report, released Sunday, estimates that lower-income groups would foot a bigger bill from tax cuts than previously expected. In 2019, all income groups under $30,000 would have a bigger burden under the bill, the CBO projected.
In 2027, that would extend to all income groups under $75,000, as individual tax reductions expire.
The change largely stems from the bill effectively getting rid of the Obamacare provision requiring most Americans to have health insurance or p...
Revised Nov 12, 2017
Update Nov.15, 2017: Repeal of individual mandate in Obamacare attached is to tax reform bill in Senate. How did this end up as a tax issue? Calling the penalty on those who do not have health insurance a tax. A rose is a rose but this one stinks. The budget and deficit implications also fit into the tax reform bill because it would reduce government expenses by $338 billion. Leading advocate and voice Sen. James
Lankford (R-OK)on MSNBC today called this penalty a tax on the poor who could not afford to pay the premiums. Oklahoma already has one of the worst uninsured rate in the US.second only to Texas. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2017/comm/hi-uninsured-map-4.jpg
Oklahoma refused to expand Medicaid. If they had, 84,000 would would have access to health insurance.
https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/Lankford (R-OK)on MSNBC today called this penalty a tax on the poor who could not afford to pay the premiums. Oklahoma already has one of the worst uninsured rate in the US.second only to Texas. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2017/comm/hi-uninsured-map-4.jpg
Oklahoma refused to expand Medicaid. If they had, 84,000 would would have access to health insurance.
https://www.healthreformvotes.org/congress/412464
CBO score on eliminating the individual mandate would leave 4 million uninsured by 2019, 13 million by 2027 nationwide. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53300 and would increase premiums in the individual market by 10% in most years over the next decade .
Those who think GOP's inability to govern is why they lost elections November 7 are barking up the wrong tree. .While cultural and racial issues certainly were factors, , issues were important.. It is not just the GOP has failed to pass legislation, it is the kind of legislation they tried to pass. Voters are paying attention to issues and how they impact their family finances.
Analyzing various polls, CNBC concluded about the Virginia governor's race ""More than twice as many people said Gillespie's support of Obamacare repeal made it less likely they would vote for him than said his support would make it likely he would win their vote." GOP Candidate Ed Gillespie lost by 9%.
The irony of health care being such a factor in key November races is that GOP's attempt to repeal Obamacare gave free advertising of the benefits of Obamacare. Voters who had been suckered in by GOP messages of the evils of Obamacare suddenly realized they almost lost something important to their economic well-being.. Not only did this awakening figure into the elections, enrollment in Obamacare has surged, breaking records.
Failure to pass legislation may be frustrating for Trump's core supporters., but the problem was what harm their legislation would have done to everyone else. It was the GOP's desire to take away Obamacare benefits and health insurance affordability and their opposition to expanding Obamacare's Medicaid in certain states besides Virginia.. In Maine , an initiative to expand Medicaid under Obamacare to cover more people was overwhelmingly approved..
What could also be emerging is public realization of the paltry crumbs of tax relief thrown to the middle class in order to give enormous tax relief to the wealthy. The tax reform issue will have center stage in the coming weeks as it is debated in both houses of Congress and public awareness will increase. In spite of doubling the standard deduction, as the bills stand now, 9% of tax filers with income between $48,600 to $86,400 per year will get a tax hike next year. 31% of the middle class will see a tax increase by 2027 while the rich will enjoy their huge tax relief forever. Popular itemized deductions are on the GOP chopping block from real estate taxes, student loan interest and employer provided tuition reimbursement, state and local income taxes, and high medical bills.
.This may help point to way to the Democrats finding themselves in 2018. Democrats have been coasting on Trump's unpopularity, but they need a positive message as well. If Democrats focus on pocket book issues and the harm GOP legislative initiatives are doing to kitchen table issues, they may be able to find a theme that could flip Congress blue in the 2018 midterms. Pocket book issues are a great unifying theme in these cultural divisive times. They cross racial, gender, and geographical lines. That is the lesson Democrats should learn from November 7.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-show-support-obamacare-despite-110012524.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/08/562707799/maine-approves-medicaid-expansion-referendums-in-new-york-ohio-fail
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/20/politics/health-care-poll-abandon-repeal-replace/index.html
