- House Passes Tax Bill, as Does Senate Panel New York Times by Thomas Kaplan and Alan Rappeport — With 227 Republican votes, the House passed the most sweeping tax overhaul in three decades on Thursday, taking a significant leap forward as lawmakers seek to enact $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for businesses and individuals and deliver the first major legislative achievement of President Trump's tenure. The swift approval came two weeks after the bill was unveiled, without a single hearing on the 400-plus-page legislation and over the objections of Democrats and 13 Republicans. The focus now shifts to the Senate, where Republicans are quickly moving ahead with their own tax overhaul, which differs in substantial ways from the House bill.
- 'Obamacare' Mandate Repeal Would Remake Market for Consumers Associated Press by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar — Millions are expected to forgo coverage if Congress repeals the unpopular requirement that Americans get health insurance, gambling that they won't get sick and boosting premiums for others. The drive by Senate Republicans to undo the coverage requirement under former President Barack Obama's health care law is a sharp break from the idea that everyone should contribute to health care. And just as important, it fits neatly with the effort by President Donald Trump's administration to write new regulations allowing for skimpier plans with limited benefits and lower premiums. Put the two together and the marketplace for about 18 million people buying their own health insurance could look very different in a few years. Consumers would have new options with different pluses and minuses. They'd notice a shift away from health plans that cover a broad set of benefits. New winners and losers would emerge.
- Health Care for Millions at Risk as Tax Writers Look for Revenue Bloomberg News by Toluse Olorunnipa and Anna Edney — The Republican tax plans are suddenly looking a lot more like health care bills, with provisions that may affect coverage and increase medical expenses for millions of families. The House version of the tax bill, which President Donald Trump endorsed on Tuesday, would end a deduction that allows families of disabled children and elderly people to write off large medical expenses. The Senate plan would repeal the Obamacare requirement that most Americans carry insurance, a move that insurers promise would raise premiums in the nationwide individual insurance market. The provisions would help offset the cost of large tax cuts for corporations and individuals. But the move has sparked a new wave of opposition from the health care industry and others who are concerned about its impact — the same political headwinds that tanked Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act earlier this year.