Tax bill guts unpopular ‘Obamacare’ insurance mandate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans didn’t get their wish to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law, but the tax bill barreling toward a final vote in Congress guts its most unpopular provision, the requirement that virtually all Americans carry health insurance.

Politically, the move is a winner for Republicans, who otherwise would have little to show for all their rhetoric about “Obamacare.”

But if estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office are right, it will lead to more people being uninsured and higher premiums for those buying individual health insurance policies.

And Congress may then find itself considering other ways to nudge people to get health insurance.

Independent experts debate the precise impact, noting that with about 28 million still uninsured, the individual mandate doesn’t seem to have worked very well in the first place.