House Ways and Means Committee Republicans on Monday introduced a tax package that would delay Obamacare taxes, raising the prospect that lawmakers may try to pass the provisions before year-end.
Healthcare industry lobbyists have pushed for Obamacare tax delays during the lame duck session, even though none of the current moratoriums expire until next year. If the taxes went into effect, they would rake in $52 billion, Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said.
Although this package was introduced by Ways and Means Republicans, the proposed ACA tax delays have always been bipartisan and Brady said he is interested in moving them this year regardless of the vehicle.
Still, the package is likely dead on arrival in the Senate, Brady acknowledged. It tweaks the GOP-passed tax law and doesn't include critical tax extenders the committee had included in an earlier package.
Congress still has to clear an appropriations package by Dec. 21, but Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democratic member on the Senate Finance Committee, declined to weigh in whether the delays could be included in a spending bill, citing ongoing negotiations.
Monday's House GOP package includes a five-year moratorium on the medical device tax; a two-year delay for the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost employer plans, which won't expire until the end of 2021; a two-year delay of the health insurance tax; and a full repeal of the tax on indoor tanning.
A House Republican leadership representative did not comment on a potential House floor vote for the overall package.
