One casualty of the tax bill compromise: Obamacare mandate

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Republican lawmakers will overturn a key piece of the Affordable Care Act in their tax overhaul, a victory in a long GOP campaign against the health law.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the compromise tax bill from House and Senate negotiators will end the health law’s requirement that all individuals buy insurance or pay a fine. Doing so could jeopardize Obamacare’s already-shaky marketplaces, by reducing the number of healthier people who sign up for insurance.

The bill will “repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate tax, delivering relief to low- and middle-income Americans who have struggled under an unpopular and unworkable law,” the Kentucky Republican said in an emailed statement.

The new tax legislation must still be approved by both houses of Congress. Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority in the Senate, which will be further diminished when Alabama Democrat Doug Jones takes his seat.

Undoing Obamacare’s mandate was one of a handful of specific changes McConnell mentioned in his statement. He also said the bill would lead to “further developing Alaska’s oil and gas potential,” a likely reference to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

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