House votes to repeal Affordable Care Act's 'Cadillac tax'

July 17 (UPI) -- The House voted Wednesday to repeal a provision of the Affordable Care Act meant to control healthcare spending.

The measure to repeal the so-called "Cadillac tax" that was designed to lower healthcare costs by discouraging overly generous health insurance plans passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote of 419-6.

"Passage of this bill will lift the shadow that overhangs employer-sponsored plans and stop the high deductible trend from worsening," said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., who introduced the bill. "I am hopeful an overwhelming tally tonight will send a laser light message to the Senate to adopt this bill as soon as possible."

The provision, which is set to go into effect in 2022 after multiple congressional efforts to delay it, imposes a 40 percent tax on employment-based health insurance coverage that exceeds $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

If passed by the Senate, the bill would fully repeal the provision that both Republicans and Democrats believe punishes the middle class.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the tax will cost the government $196.9 billion over 10 years.

"After a decade of fiercely debating the merits of the Affordable Care Act, I hope we have turned a corner today and can now focus on strengthening the parts of the law that work in the manner we'd intended and changing the parts of the law, which is not unusual, that we believe could be improved," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said.