Millions would be left uninsured while top 1% get major tax cuts
PRESS RELEASE
Date: November 9th, 2017
Contact: Adam Fox, 303-563-9108, afox@cohealthinitiative.org
Jenny Davies, 720-296-9545, jenny@progressive-promotions.com
Denver – Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a new estimate on the damage repealing the individual mandate would cause. Many Republicans in Washington are pushing for repeal of the mandate to be included in their tax plan as a way to pay for big tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. Their current tax plan is estimated to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
“This tax heist is already a double-whammy for working families. It gives 80% of the tax cuts to the top 1 percent and big corporations and the GOP budget plans to pay for the increase in the deficit by gutting Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs hard-working American families rely on,” said Adam Fox of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “Including repeal of the insurance mandate will only further harm low-income and middle-class families by increasing premiums, destabilizing the market, and leaving more people uninsured.”
The CBO estimate shows that repeal of the mandate will increase premiums in the individual insurance market by 10% and leave 13 million more Americans uninsured. However, premiums could spike higher if Congress does not fund the cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers.
“As part of the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House, Representative Coffman says he is committed to stabilizing the individual market. Repealing the individual mandate will do the exact opposite, leaving many more Coloradans uninsured and increasing premiums,” said Fox. “On top of that, we’ve heard our Republican Congressmen time and again say they oppose increasing the deficit and the national debt, yet this tax plan would do just that. Their tax heist won’t just provide a handout to the top 1%, increase the deficit, and leave thousands of Coloradans without the health care they need. It will devastate Colorado’s state budget and almost certainly lead to cuts in state programs and services that help working families get by and get ahead.”
The House is expected to vote on their version of the tax plan as early as next week, despite cutting off the amendment process and holding no public hearings on the bill.
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Protect Our Care Colorado is a coalition of 48 organizations in Colorado advocating to protect the health care of Coloradans. To learn more about the coalition, visit ProtectOurCareCo.org.