If you add up all of the things that go with repealing the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, as Senate Republicans are planning to do in their tax bill that gives massive cuts to the rich, the middle class gets really screwed. The Roosevelt Institute’s Michael Linden did that, taking the numbers from the CBO, and determined just how regressive the cuts would be.
This is the ripple effect of the reducing federal spending and cutting wealthy people’s and corporate taxes. Add it all up, and the bill would reduce federal spending, or raise taxes, on households with incomes below $40,000. It combines spending cuts and tax hikes on these households by almost $36 billion. Those with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000 are particular targets.
It’s not just taking health insurance away from 13 million people—it’s a massive redistribution of taxes. It hikes them for people making below $40,000 and gives an average of $36,000 to households making more than $1 million. It’s obscene.