Skip to content

CBO/JCT CONFIRM THAT OBAMACARE IS A $1 TRILLION TAX HIKE

July 25, 2012


New estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirm what America already knows – that the Democrats’ health law is a trillion-dollar tax hike that families and employers simply cannot afford.  The recent Supreme Court ruling left in place 21 tax increases enacted as part of that law, a dozen of which – marked with an asterisk (*) below – target Americans earning less than $200,000 per year for singles and $250,000 per year for married couples, in clear violation of the President’s pledge to avoid tax hikes on low- and middle-income taxpayers.  According to the new CBO and JCT estimates, the gross tax increases in the law now total $1.058 trillion over 2013-2022.  That new amount is nearly twice the “advertised” ten-year tax hike amount claimed when Democrats originally pushed the law through Congress just two years ago.

Provision  March 2010 Estimate
(‘10-‘19)

 June/July 2012
Re-Estimates
(‘13-‘22)

Additional 0.9 percent payroll tax on wages and self-employment income and new 3.8 percent tax on dividends, capital gains, and other investment income for taxpayers earning over $200,000 (singles)/$250,000 (married)  210.2  317.7
“Cadillac tax” on high-cost plans *  32.0  111.0
Employer mandate *  52.0  106.0
Annual tax on health insurance providers *  60.1  101.7
Individual mandate *  17.0  55.0
Annual tax on drug manufacturers / importers *  27.0  34.2
2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers / importers *
 20.0  29.1
Limit FSAs in cafeteria plans *  13.0  24.0
Raise 7.5 percent AGI floor on medical expense deduction to 10 percent *  15.2  18.7
Deny eligibility of “black liquor” for cellulosic biofuel producer credit
 23.6  15.5
Codify economic substance doctrine  4.5  5.3
Increase penalty for nonqualified HSA distributions *  1.4  4.5
Impose limitations on the use of HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, and Archer MSAs to purchase over-the-counter medicines *  5.0  4.0
Impose fee on insured and self-insured health plans; patient-centered outcomes research trust fund *  2.6  3.8
Eliminate deduction for expenses allocable to Medicare Part D subsidy  4.5  3.1
Impose 10 percent tax on tanning services *  2.7  1.5
Limit deduction for compensation to officers, employees, directors, and service providers of certain health insurance providers  0.6  0.8
Modify section 833 treatment of certain health organizations  0.4  0.4
Other revenue effects  60.3  222.01
Additional requirements for section 501(c)(3) hospitals Negligible Negligible
Employer W-2 reporting of value of health benefits  Negligible  Negligible
1099 reporting for small businesses  17.1  Repealed by P.L. 112-9
 TOTAL GROSS TAX INCREASE
(BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
 569.2  1,058.3

Prepared by Ways and Means Committee Staff – July 24, 2012

1Includes CBO’s $216.0 billion estimate for “Associated Effects of Coverage Provisions on Tax Revenues” and $6.0 billion within CBO’s “Other Revenue Provisions” category that is not otherwise accounted for in the CBO or JCT estimates.


###
Ways and Means Republican Press Office
www.WaysandMeans.House.Gov
202.226.4774