Congress Repeals Three Major Health Taxes in Year-End Spending Deal

Last week, Congress passed a final year-end spending agreement that permanently repealed three major health taxes intended to fund the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  President Trump signed the spending packages into law on the evening of Friday, Dec. 20 before the midnight deadline to fund the government. 

The three major health taxes that lawmakers in the House and Senate agreed to repeal included the 40 percent Cadillac tax, the 2.3 percent medical device tax and the health insurance tax. The taxes were originally mandated by the Affordable Care Act to help fund provisions of the law. 

The repeal of the health taxes was included in a nearly $1.4 trillion, two-part fiscal year 2020 spending package enacted along with many other appropriations measures. 

In 2010, when then-President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) was actively involved in the discussions related to the law’s enactment to attempt to ensure fair outcomes for the specialty. 

ASA will continue to monitor health reform measures and health care related appropriations legislation.