H.R. 748, Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019
Cost Estimate
As posted on the House website docs.house.gov on July 15, 2019 (version HR748_SUS.XML). This cost estimate reflects the version of H.R. 748 that was passed by the House in July 2019, which was subsequently amended and enacted in March 2020 as the CARES Act. On April 16, 2020, CBO published a preliminary estimate of the CARES Act.
Eliminate an excise tax, enacted in 2010 and scheduled to start in 2022, on employment-based health insurance with premiums that exceed certain statutory thresholds
Estimated budgetary effects would primarily stem from
Foregone high-premium excise tax receipts
Lower revenues from decreases in taxable compensation resulting from some employers and employees no longer shifting to lower-cost plans to avoid paying the tax
Areas of significant uncertainty include
Predicting the extent to which the repeal of the excise tax would increase enrollment in higher-cost insurance plans
