House committee fast-tracks legislation package to repeal ACA mandates, taxes

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday advanced a legislation package that attacks the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act in a fast-track process called reconciliation.

The measure seeks to repeal several major provisions of the healthcare law -- specifically the employer mandate for providing and obtaining coverage, as well as two taxes that help pay for the law.

Republicans have long attempted to repeal or defund the ACA, which was implemented two years ago. Tuesday, the committee voted 24-13 to advance the legislation.

"We're going to pass a bill that can dismantle ObamaCare and reach the president's desk," House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said. "We're going to repeal the five worst parts of the law: two mandates, two taxes and one board of bureaucrats."

The "board of bureaucrats" Ryan referred to is a congressional oversight panel known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board -- which is tasked with recommending cuts to Medicare if government spending surpasses a certain level. The committee's legislation seeks to eliminate the board in its entirety.

Because reconciliation is a fast-track tactic, lawmakers can get the bill to the president's desk with a simple 51-vote majority -- instead of the 60 Senate votes they would normally need to bypass a filibuster. To qualify for reconciliation, the bill must aim to meet budgetary targets -- which is why the committee's legislation focuses exclusively on taxes and spending.

However, because this particular measure has no chance of being signed by President Barack Obama, Republicans would need enough support in Congress for an override -- a long shot, observers say, but possible with GOP majorities in both houses.

Some Democrats in Congress have criticized the legislation as merely another attempt to systematically dismantle the administration's signature law in the aftermath of House Speaker John Boehner's sudden resignation.

"We are seemingly taking the next step after the Speaker's announcement on Friday to appease the right-wing of the Republican Conference," Rep. Sandy Levin, the Ways and Means Committee's top Democrat, said. "Want to avoid a government shutdown? Force the Speaker out. Want to avoid a government shutdown? Attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act."

Democrats cited Congressional Budget Office figures to criticize the committee's legislation -- saying that removing the mandate would leave nearly 15 million people without health coverage in the next decade, and hike premiums by 20 percent because fewer people would sign up.