Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski announces support for repealing individual mandate... [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post




Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski announces support for repealing individual mandate, a potential boost to tax overhaul

By Damian Paletta November 21 at 10:01 PM

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.

Senate Republicans’ plan to rewrite the tax code includes a provision to repeal the individual mandate, a part of the 2010 health-care law that requires almost all Americans to have some form of health insurance or pay a fine.

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 Affordable Care Act, emphasizing how Alaskans had paid $21 million in penalties under the law in 2014 and 2015 for failing to purchase health insurance. She wrote that “eliminating this tax would allow Alaskans to have greater control over their money and health care decisions.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/11/21/republican-sen-lisa-murkowski-announces-support-for-repealing-individual-mandate-a-potential-boost-to-tax-overhaul