Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images
From left, Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, conduct a news conference after the Senate Policy Luncheons on June 6, 2017.
Senate Republicans trying to salvage their bill repealing much of President Barack Obama’s health care law are considering keeping the biggest tax increase he enacted to pay for his statute’s expansion.
The GOP bill would repeal most of the tax boosts in Obama’s law.
Leaders are considering retaining Obama’s 3.8 percent tax increase on investments by higher earners. That tax boost is expected to raise $172 billion over 10 years. Some Republicans want to use the money instead to make their federal health care subsidies more generous.
They’re also considering a proposal from conservatives to let insurers offer policies with whatever premiums and benefits they’d like — as long as they also offer a plan providing all the coverage Obama’s law requires.
It’s unclear whether either proposal will survive.