Insurance-mandate repeal won’t pinch Bay State

Dec. 03--The repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate included in the tax-cut bill passed by Senate Republicans will allow people to opt out of buying health insurance without paying a penalty, though the anticipated exodus of millions of young, healthy individuals from the system could boost premiums, analysts say.

For Republicans, the long-sought repeal of the individual mandate is a gift scrawled at the top on the party's wish list -- one that had been denied in Congress earlier this year but was ultimately tucked into the Senate tax bill that narrowly passed early yesterday morning.

Under the mandate, people without health insurance risk having to pay an "individual shared responsibility" penalty that in 2017 amounts to the higher of 2.5 percent of income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child.

In the dollars and cents, the mandate repeal -- which will save the government $318.4 billion -- kept the bill from adding more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

Jim Manley, advisor to former Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, said the mandate was being repealed to balance bigger corporate tax breaks.

"The Republicans used this is a piggy bank," Manley said, "to try and free up more money to reduce the corporate tax rate."

Amy Rosenthal, executive director of Health Care for All, slammed the mandate repeal, saying it will have a "disastrous impact."

"This is not only a tax bill, but also a sneaky health care bill with a provision to repeal of a key component of the Affordable Care Act," Rosenthal said in a statement. "Axing the mandate will take away coverage from 13 million Americans nationwide, lead to steep premium increases, and destabilize the marketplaces in the long term."

Still, the impact on Bay State residents is likely to be limited since the state's own insurance requirement will remain in place. Last month, Louis Gutierrez, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, said the state's insurance marketplace is moving forward even as the Affordable Care Act is being threatened in Washington, D.C.

Since health insurance markets don't cross state borders, repealing the mandate is not expected to raise prices in Massachusetts, though other federal changes may still drive up premiums.

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