Repeal of ACA employer mandate inches closer

Two bills opposed by Democrats have come closer to stripping away more of the Affordable Care Act. The Hill reports that H.R. 4616, which would suspend penalties for the employer mandate for 2015 through 2019, as well as postpone implementation of the tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health plans (the Cadillac tax) for one more year, until 2022, has been advanced along party lines by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Another measure, sponsored by Reps. Peter Roskam, R-IL and Michael Burgess, R-TX, would allow ACA tax credits to be used to buy plans outside of the exchanges for the individual market, as well as allow the purchase of a catastrophic plan by anyone. Currently catastrophic plans can only be purchased by people under 30; they cost less, but cover fewer services.

Related: Employers unlikely to trim benefits in the event employer mandate is dropped

The individual mandate penalty was repealed last year, although it doesn’t take effect until 2019; in the meantime, the IRS has been enforcing it.

Business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, have supported the repeal of both the employer mandate and the Cadillac tax. In a statement, James A. Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, says, “Today’s markup is an opportunity for lawmakers to expand and strengthen employer-provided health coverage and we urge them to make the most of it.”

Democrats opposed both bills, according to the report, criticizing them for costing too much and contributing to ACA destabilization.

While the measures may get a vote in the full House, it’s not expected that they will progress to the Senate “in an election year,” according to another Hill report. The Council certainly hopes the latter is not the case; Klein added, “We encourage the committee to go even farther by fully repealing the ACA’s employer mandate and ‘Cadillac Tax,’ both of which strain employer resources and impose greater out-of-pocket costs on working families.”