[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REPEALING THE 40 PERCENT EXCISE TAX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the working men and women in 
our country who have well-deserved, hard-earned quality healthcare 
benefits to urge House leadership to bring to the floor H.R. 748, the 
Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act. This bill would finally 
fully repeal the 40 percent excise tax on certain employer-sponsored 
healthcare plans. For too long, the tax has been a looming threat.
  Make no mistake, this tax falls on everyday working families, 
including laborers, operating engineers, carpenters, pipefitters, 
painters, plumbers, ironworkers, transportation workers, firefighters, 
police, and many others, many who have fought for and won healthcare 
benefits in collective bargaining agreements.
  Among its many unintended effects, this excise tax has helped 
encourage the recent large increases in insurance plan deductibles, 
which especially hurt those with chronic illnesses.
  This repeal bill has been proposed for years. It is well past time to 
give it a vote on the House floor.
  The 40 percent excise tax on high-quality healthcare plans was 
enacted in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The ACA has had many good 
effects, but it also had many flaws as enacted. We need to make the ACA 
work better for more Americans. And one provision that needs to be 
fixed is this tax.
  The tax was supposed to begin in 2018, but has been repeatedly 
delayed, reflecting the awareness of its negative impact. Right now, it 
is scheduled to take effect in 2022. It is time to just end it.
  Regardless of the intent behind the original ACA provisions, the 
truth is that health insurance premiums have continued to grow faster 
than inflation, putting even plans with modern benefits at risk of 
getting taxed.
  As Families USA recently pointed out, without a permanent solution, 
as many as one out of every four workers with job-based health plan 
coverage could be affected by this tax by 2025. That is just 6 short 
years from now.
  Furthermore, responsible employers plan ahead and are already gearing 
up to plan their budgets for health insurance in the next few years. 
This is especially concerning in the case of workers who have 
successfully used their right to organize to reach collective 
bargaining agreements with their employers.
  Good union jobs provide workers with a better opportunity to 
negotiate benefits that fairly reflect the important contributions they 
make to the American economy. Union jobs and union contracts mean 
workers are fairly compensated in the private sector without relying on 
taxpayers and the Federal Government.
  But collective bargaining agreements often span years, and the 
looming threat of the excise tax puts these hard-fought contracts at 
risk. Temporary delays in the excise tax only create more fear and 
uncertainty for families as they wonder whether their benefits will be 
severely cut back due to heavy government taxes.
  Delays also crimp employer budgets, as businesses are forced to 
account for the risk of getting hit with hefty charges. By undermining 
long-term collective bargaining agreements, these delays also undermine 
the bedrock of the American economy: fairly negotiated private 
contracts that all parties know they can rely on.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have shown us that they don't want 
repeal of the ACA and they don't want important protections to be 
ripped out from under them. They want the ACA fixed. So let's show them 
we are listening.
  So, let's show them we are listening. Let's show them that workers 
with good, job-based health coverage will not have to fear it eroding 
simply due to government taxes. Let's bring the Middle Class Health 
Benefits Tax Repeal Act to the floor.

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