- CBO: Obamacare Mandate Repeal Would Cut Deficit by $338 Billion Politico by Jennifer Haberkorn — Repealing Obamacare's individual mandate would save the government $338 billion over a decade and result in 13 million more uninsured Americans in 2027, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score. Congressional Republicans are considering axing Obamacare's requirement that most Americans obtain health coverage as part of a tax reform package, although there is resistance from GOP leaders who fear the provision would be rejected in the Senate because it would also mean millions in coverage losses and revive the partisan debate on the rest of the Affordable Care Act.
- Revenue Hole May Bring GOP Back to Repeal of Obamacare Mandate Bloomberg by Alexis Leondis — The impact of House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady's amendment to revise one of the GOP tax bill's offshore provisions emerged late Tuesday — an estimated $74 billion revenue hole, which is sending tax writers scrambling to find additional revenue. They may pursue a risky strategy to make up the shortfall: repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. House Republicans are edging closer to accepting President Donald Trump's suggestion to combine their tax legislation with a repeal of the mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance, according to a person who's helping to draft the tax bill. While the move would give House tax writers an estimated $416 billion in sorely needed offsets for the deep rate cuts they want, it risks alienating GOP senators, who voted down a measure that would have repealed the so-called individual mandate last summer.
- Trump Preparing Executive Order to Scale Back Obamacare's Individual Mandate: The Hill by Nathaniel Weixel — The White House is reportedly preparing an executive order to weaken Obamacare's individual mandate in the event congressional Republicans don't include the measure in the tax-reform bill. According to the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, the draft executive order would seek to broaden the "hardship exemptions" to the requirement that taxpayers must demonstrate proof of insurance or pay a fine. Repealing the mandate would save about $400 billion, which could be used to help pay for tax cuts, but the Congressional Budget Office also says 15 million more people would be uninsured and premiums would rise 20 percent.