Senate Plans to End Obamacare Mandate in Revised Tax Proposal

Article Excerpt from the NY Times.  By THOMAS KAPLAN andJIM TANKERSLEYNOV. 14, 2017

[caption id="attachment_1475" align="alignright" width="768"]Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, delivered opening remarks Tuesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, delivered opening remarks Tuesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times[/caption]

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have decided to include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance into the sprawling tax rewrite, merging the fight over health care with the high-stakes effort to cut taxes.

Repealing the mandate, a longstanding Republican goal, would save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. That would free up money that is earmarked to expand middle-class tax cuts.