It might not pass healthcare legislation over the summer, but Congress is making sure at least one part of Obamacare gets repealed — the individual mandate.
The House appropriations committee has drafted a provision to stop the IRS from enforcing the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which penalizes individuals to pay a penalty if they didn't purchase health insurance, The New York Times reported.
That restriction on the IRS would take effect Oct. 1, start of the new fiscal year.
"While Congress works to pass President [Donald] Trump's healthcare plan, stopping the IRS from implementing the harmful individual mandate helps provide relief for the families suffering under Obamacare," a spokesman for committee chairman Rep. Tom Graves told The Times.
The individual mandate was a key cog of Obamacare to help keep down premiums by coercing younger people with few health problems into the plan to help pay for older people with more health problems.
By extension, Republicans are wrestling with higher costs in their bills given the eradication of the mandate.
The penalty imposed on opt-outs was a range based on household income.
In 2015, the IRS collected $3 billion in penalties from 6.5 million people who opted out of Obamacare, The Times reported.
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