Next week, the House is expected to take up H.R. 596, a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and restore the laws as if the health reform provisions had never been enacted. The bill also directs the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, and Ways and Means to develop alternative legislation that meets various policy goals, including, among others: lowering health care premiums through increased competition and choice; preserving a patient's ability to keep his or her health plan if he or she likes it; providing people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage; reforming the medical liability system; increasing the number of insured Americans; expanding state flexibility to administer the Medicaid program; and expanding incentives to encourage personal responsibility for health care coverage and costs.
Although the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) typically releases a budget estimate for legislation scheduled for a floor vote, CBO announced today that it is unable to do so in this case. CBO explains that estimating the budget impact of this legislation would take weeks of CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation staff time "because there are hundreds of provisions in the laws that would be repealed and those provisions are in various stages of implementation." The CBO did not point out that President Obama would undoubtedly veto the legislation if it were to reach his desk.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.