Today, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) notified members of the U.S. House of Representatives of its intent to key vote H.R. 748, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019. The association supports this bipartisan legislation that would repeal the 40 percent excise tax on employer-sponsored health coverage and employee benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Surprise medical billing is a growing issue where patients face unexpected charges after they receive medical care. Despite the partisanship in Washington, there are growing bipartisan calls in Congress and by President Trump to end surprise billing, making it one of the few potential legislative accomplishments this Congress. On June 5, AGC joined a broad group of organizations in a urging Senate leaders to prioritize needed reforms to resolve surprise medical billing. AGC supports a legislative solution because surprise bills can create hardship for employees’ financial well-being and lost productivity fighting the bills.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) after months of heated and contentious negotiations among Republicans and the administration on the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). AGC originally opposed the ACA because we did not believe that it created a framework to reduce health care costs, but instead increased new compliance and complexity problems for employers. The reforms provided in the AHCA will reduce complexity and compliance problems for employers and help reduce the cost of health care so employers can maintain and expand the health care benefits they offer their employees.
AGC has long supported the employer-provided health care model while, at the same time, ensuring that it is easy and affordable for employers to provide coverage to their employees. AGC supports increased flexibility to offer construction employers the ability to expand coverage to their employees and limit the financial hardships of purchasing health care services and the repealing of onerous taxes will lead to health insurance premium savings.
The outlook for Senate action remains uncertain. However, if a repeal bill does pass the Senate it would likely be different than the bill that passed the House today, which would lead to further changes and compromises before being signed into law. Today’s vote starts the repeal process but changes to the law remain in the works.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected].