Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on Wednesday told reporters a tax break for high earners in the GOP healthcare bill was a mistake, The Hill reported.
The tax cuts include a repeal of a 3.8 percent investment tax and a 0.9 percent Medicare payroll tax, both of which apply to individuals earning $200,000 or more a year and couples earning more than $250,000. Repealing that tax, according to the Congressional Budget Office, could cost the federal government $172 billion over the course of 10 years.
Corker says the cuts come at the expense of low-income individuals who would be provided less federal money and have plans that cover less with higher deductibles and copays.
"It's very important to me in the initial draft bill, if you looked at lower-income citizens . . . they were going backwards," Corker said after a meeting with Republican leaders in Sen. Mitch McConnell's office. "And, at the same time, the 3.8 percent tax on the wealthy was being done away with."
Corker said he and other lawmakers were not comfortable with the idea of cutting taxes for wealthy individuals, while leaving some without money to buy healthcare.
"That's a situation that has got to be rectified," Corker said. "My sense is there is a way for that to be rectified.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, echoed the same sentiment.
"I do not see a justification for doing away with the 3.8 percent tax on investment income, because that is not something that increases the cost of healthcare," she said.