Free Republic

The Supreme Court will consider whether setting Obamacare’s individual mandate tax to $0 renders the mandate unconstitutional, and if any other parts of Obamacare should fall with it.In a few weeks, health care will once again take center stage at the Supreme Court. In what has become a semi-regular occurrence, the justices will soon rule on a case focused on two central questions: Whether Congress’ 2017 decision to set Obamacare’s individual mandate tax to $0 renders the mandate unconstitutional, and if so, what if any other parts of Obamacare should fall with it.In advance of the impending ruling, John McDonough...

An appellate court ruling that struck down a key pillar of Obamacare on Wednesday amped up anxiety about the future of the law that brought health insurance to millions of Americans. Court appeals are likely and experts say the matter probably won’t be resolved for years — creating uncertainty about the protections were built into the Affordable Care Act. Squirrel Hill resident Amy Raslevich is among the people worrying about the future of the law. “I’m fighting cancer,” the 48-year-old University of Pittsburgh doctoral student said. “I shouldn’t have to fight Congress and the president to stay alive.” In a...

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday took a broader stance against the Affordable Care Act, telling a federal appeals court the entire law can be discarded. The agency called on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm a district court ruling invalidating the entire Obamacare law, saying it "is not urging that any portion of the district court's judgment be reversed." The one-page letter came hours after 21 Democratic state attorneys general argued that Congress' zeroing out of the penalty did not make the individual mandate unconstitutional, as U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor decided in mid-December. At...

Maryland lawmakers want to create an individual health care mandate at the state level — in response to Washington gutting it at the federal level — and turn it into a down payment for people to pay for health insurance. Supporters outlined the proposal Tuesday, a day before the Maryland legislative session begins, adding it could also work in other states to help keep insurance premiums from skyrocketing. The Maryland General Assembly is controlled by Democrats. The federal tax overhaul approved last month removed the federal penalty that was charged to people without health insurance. Under Maryland legislation, the state...

Merry Christmas. President Trump’s tax reform victory is not only a massive legislative accomplishment but also, and more importantly, a win for freedom. Freedom is making quite a revival under President Trump. When the president signs the bill early next month, Americans could see a fatter paycheck starting as soon as February and bigger tax refunds in early 2019. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center is estimating that more than 80 percent of Americans will see a tax cut, averaging over $2,000. It’s their money and they deserve it back, free to do with it what they like. Add to that...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts rates for most tax brackets, substantially reduces business taxes, increases the standard deduction, and eliminates many tax loopholes and deductions. Congress passed historic, far-reaching tax reform legislation this week, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law soon after some technical fixes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts rates for most tax brackets, substantially reduces corporate and small business taxes, increases the standard deduction for individuals and couples, and eliminates many tax loopholes and deductions.Since Republicans first rolled out their plan to implement tax reform, liberal pundits and Democrats...

Republicans' tax overhaul gets rid of the tax penalty for people who fail to maintain insurance coverage. If it becomes law, what happens to the deficit and the number of uninsured? RAY SUAREZ, HOST: As the House and Senate vote to overhaul the tax code, they're also voting to undo a key part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The bill gets rid of the tax penalty for failing to maintain insurance coverage. It's known as the individual mandate, and it's probably been the most vilified part of the healthcare law. Joining us now is NPR health policy correspondent...

Senate Republicans have approved the repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate as part of their tax-cut bill, a major step forward toward ending an unpopular part of the healthcare law. “Families ought to be able to make decisions about what they want to buy and what works for them –not the government,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said, hailing the accomplishment. “I believe if people don’t want to buy the Obamacare insurance, they shouldn’t have to pay a tax penalty to the IRS.” The Senate tax bill must still be reconciled with House legislation that does not include the mandate’s repeal. But...

Senate Democrats who fret over the distributional effects of tax cuts should thank their GOP colleagues for giving them the chance this week to vote on repealing one of the most regressive taxes: the Obamacare tax on the uninsured. This tax disproportionately falls on those with incomes less than $50,000, while exempting many households earning six-figure salaries. Many who qualify for subsidies will have to choose between paying the tax and buying policies that offer shabby coverage with onerous deductibles that could stick them with big medical bills. This wasn’t the way the so-called individual mandate was supposed to work....

In the interest of intellectual honesty and transparency, let's begin with a few important concessions to skeptics of the GOP tax reform bill: First, not every single American would be a winner under the plan.  A small percentage of US taxpayers would see a tax increase (disproportionately, these would be higher-income itemizers from high-tax states), and a number of deductions that help certain people with heavy medical expenses and student loan debt would be eliminated (proponents say much or all of the resulting blow would be mitigated by lower rates and a doubled standard deduction).  Second, among the "losers" would...

We'll get to the study mentioned in the headline shortly -- but first, it's already time for another tax reform fact check, necessitated by the Left's relentless machine of anti-reform propaganda and distortions.  On MSNBC, anchor Ali Velshi butchered the facts on the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the projected impact of Senate Republicans' tax reform bill.  Here's the segment in which he disseminates, well, fake news, followed by an explanation of exactly how he misrepresented the CBO chart. Via the Free Beacon: MSNBC's Ali Velshi Messes Up CBO Chart on Tax Reform (Video) "More bad news from the Congressional...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she would support repealing the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance mandate, giving a potential boost to the Republican effort to pass a massive tax cut package next week. “I believe that the federal government should not force anyone to buy something they do not wish to buy, in order to avoid being taxed,” Murkowski wrote in an opinion piece published Tuesday by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Murkowski was careful, however, to stop short of saying she would vote for the Senate GOP tax plan. She instead focused the entire op-ed on her views about the...

Sen. Murkowski wrote a piece for an Alaska newspaper Tuesday announcing she would support repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate which is currently part of the GOP tax bill. I have always supported the freedom to choose. I believe that the federal government should not force anyone to buy something they do not wish to buy in order to avoid being taxed. That is the fundamental reason why I opposed the Affordable Care Act from its inception and also why I cosponsored a bill to repeal the individual mandate tax penalty starting as early as 2013. And that is why...

Eight years ago, Sen. Orrin Hatch argued in a Senate Finance Committee then controlled by Democrats that Congress does not have the constitutional power to order people to buy things. The committee was discussing the incipient Obamacare bill. It's most outrageous element: The so-called "individual mandate," which would force Americans to purchase health insurance. Hatch did not believe the Constitution's Commerce Clause -- which gives Congress the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign nations, and among the states" -- could be stretched to give the federal government the power to compel individuals to do this. "Rather than regulate what people...

If you’ve read a newspaper or watched cable news in the last month, you’ve probably seen someone say that the Senate GOP health care bill would “kick 22 million Americans off of their health insurance.” But it’s not true. New information from the Congressional Budget Office—leaked to me by a congressional staffer—shows why. CBO’s faith in the individual mandate’s magical powers For years, the CBO has been convinced—despite real-world experience to the contrary—that Obamacare’s individual mandate is the biggest reason why that law has increased the number of Americans with health insurance. When Senator Barack Obama ran against Hillary Clinton...

No part of ObamaCare was more hated by the average person or more illegal than the individual mandate. The mandate was one of ObamaCare's corrupt bargains. This one delivered a captive audience to insurance companies in returning for insuring those they didn't want to insure. Obama claimed to want to help the uninsured, yet he also smeared them as "free riders" when what he was really doing was forcing healthy young people to buy useless insurance they couldn't afford as a bribe to companies for taking on his base. Meanwhile the forced signups would be reported as proof that ObamaCare...

Hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump followed up on his campaign pledge to start chipping away at Obamacare and curb federal regulations. Trump signed an executive order Friday evening in the Oval Office “to ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition to repeal and replace,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus also sent a memo titled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” to block all pending regulations under review but not yet in the Federal Register. The new president’s goal is to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better...

Sen. Chuck Schumer said the Republican plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act would disrupt the entire health-care system. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, likened the Republicans to "the dog who caught the bus," saying that they "don't know what to do." He cautioned Republicans against "plain repeal," saying it would have an immediate impact, particularly on rural hospitals. "Republicans will soon learn that you can't keep the good parts of the ACA and remove the rest of the law and still have it work. That's what they're struggling with. That's why they're not getting...

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) says removing the federal government's individual mandate to purchase health insurance is “not American.” McDermott told C-Span’s Washington Journal Tuesday, that Republican efforts to remove the government mandate to purchase health insurance from the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will not work. …

This is the kind of case the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia liked to sink his judicial teeth into -- whether the federal government can compel a religious entity like the Little Sisters of the Poor to violate their religious beliefs and acquiesce to the ObamaCare contraceptive coverage mandate. As LifeSite News reported on Wednesday’s hearing: This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a 175-year-old religious order of women who have vowed their lives to care for the elderly poor.