Rep. Mike Kelly Introduces Bill to Repeal Obamacare’s Cadillac Tax

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) has introduced legislation that would repeal Obamacare’s controversial Cadillac Tax.

The provision would impose a 40 percent excise tax on all health insurance plans provided by employers that have a value of more than $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

The bill (H.R. 173), dubbed the “Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2017,” is co-sponsored by Democrat Rep. Joe Courtney (CT).

“As President Obama comes to Capitol Hill to try to save his failed health care law, I am proud to take one of the first steps in repealing and replacing this law in order to save the American people from its harmful consequences,” Kelly said in a press release. “The widespread pain of Obamacare’s higher costs and broken promises is already being felt by countless families and workers, yet with the law’s looming Cadillac Tax, in many ways the worst is yet to come.”

Though the Cadillac Tax was originally scheduled to take effect in 2018, currently it is slated for implementation in 2020. According to the press release, “analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation” finds “the tax will impact approximately 42 percent of American employers and their employees.”

“The Cadillac Tax is a major reason why the so-called Affordable Care Act will make health care even less affordable and accessible for so many households across America,” Kelly continued. “Sensible health care policy should encourage employers to offer a full range of health plans to their associates, not punish them with an unfair tax for doing so.”

“The sad result will be higher deductibles and fewer services for hardworking Americans,” he added. “With most Pennsylvanians covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, this Obamacare tax will be a disaster felt especially close to home.”