The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), on May 4, however the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains the law of the land until the AHCA is passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Trump. The Senate has not taken any action on passing the current version of the bill and Senate leadership has indicated the bill will face changes before coming to the floor for a vote. 

Overview of the AHCA:
The ABC Insurance Trust recently issued an ACA Compliance Bulletin, which provides a detailed overview of the House-passed version of AHCA. The Bulletin discusses how the AHCA would delay and eliminate several ACA fees and taxes including:

• Zeroing out the employer and individual mandate penalties 
• Repealing an additional Medicare tax of 0.9 percent of wages, compensation and self-employment income 
• Repealing the medical device tax
• Repealing the health insurance providers fee or the HIT 
• Repealing the flexible spending account (FSA) contribution limit
• Increasing the maximum contribution limit on health savings accounts (HSA) 
• Repealing the restriction on over-the-counter medications for FSAs and HSAs 

Read more about the AHCA in the ACA Compliance Bulletin.  

On March 22 and May 4, ABC sent letters to the House in support of the AHCA. Last April, ABC submitted a letter to the chairmen of the congressional Task Force on Health Care Reform urging them to take action on common-sense health care solutions.  

ABC will continue to provide updates on the status of the AHCA and other health care issues that impact ABC members in Newsline.