House Clears Bills on Government Payment Tax Withholding, Medicaid Eligibility Standard
On October 27, 2011, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 674, which would repeal a provision scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013 requiring the government to withhold 3% of certain payments made to private contractors – including Medicare providers -- as a credit against the contractor’s income tax. The bill was approved on a 405-16 vote. Also on October 27, the House passed H.R. 2576, to modify the ACA’s definition of modified adjusted gross income for purposes of determining eligibility for certain healthcare-related programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would save $13 billion over ten years, primarily by tightening Medicaid eligibility standards. Specifically, the legislation would provide that modified adjusted gross income includes both taxable and non-taxable Social Security benefits to align the definition with other federal subsidy programs. Beginning in 2014, this income definition would be used to determine financial eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions available through Affordable Insurance Exchanges. H.R. 2576 was approved by a 262 to 157 vote. Both bills, which were endorsed by the Obama Administration, await Senate action.
