On December 15, the Senate and House agreed on a final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The House is expected to vote on the final bill Tuesday or Wednesday with Senate vote coming shortly thereafter.
Clearly, Senators and Representatives feel the heat. Thanks to your activism, controversial plans to eliminate deductions for medical expenses, terminate tax credits to increase accessibility, and eliminate assistance that helps employers hire disabled workers were all removed from the final bill. But let’s not be fooled. Though hidden, the potential damage and danger to disabled Americans are still dire.
As agreed on by the GOP, the Tax Bill will still hurt disabled Americans in these ways:
- Repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Premiums are projected to increase by 10% with an estimated 13 million Americans losing health insurance outright. For people with disabilities and pre-existing conditions, the cost for insurance in the private market would be unaffordable if available at all.
- The estimated $1.5 trillion cut in revenue disproportionately harms families who live in poverty or are low-income, according to numerous sources including the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Of particular concern to disabled Americans are cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, housing, and other services that we rely on to go to school, work, and live in the community. Backers of the Tax Plan, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, have openly admitted that assistance programs are next on the GOP chopping block.
- Other provisions that directly hurt disabled Americans include reducing the tax credit that helps with the development of “orphan” drugs for people with rare conditions from 50% to 25%. This increases costs for drug manufacturers and makes already hard to get treatments even more difficult to obtain.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Use ContactingCongress.org to find your Members of Congress.
Call the Capitol switchboard at:
202-224-3121 (voice)
202-224-3091 (tty)
Repost the Facebook announcement.
Share the event page for friends and family who are not on Facebook.