Disclaimer: The following represents the positions and advocacy of the American Psychological Association (APA).
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on November 16, 2017; the Senate Finance Committee recently passed its version of tax legislation, and the full Senate takes up their legislation this week. While the Senate bill does not currently include the onerous provisions that negatively impact graduate study included in H.R. 1, it does include a provision that would effectively eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual insurance mandate.
Congress needs to hear from you. A chorus of voices must remind our legislative leaders that they should reject any changes to our tax system that put graduate study out of reach for Americans and increase the cost of health insurance for individuals and families.
In a joint letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee, APA expressed grave concern with H.R. 1. APA and APAPO are also on record in opposition to the ACA repeal provisions.
In the House bill, APA opposes provisions that will negatively impact graduate study including the repeal of: the Student Loan Interest Deduction; Section 127, which allows employers to offer employees up to $5,250 annually in tuition assistance; Section 117(d), which allows educational institutions to provide their employees, spouses or dependents with tuition reductions that are excluded from taxable income; and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit.
In addition, the ACA has provided high-quality health care coverage to more than 22 million previously uninsured Americans. Repealing the individual mandate, per the Senate legislation, would inject additional uncertainty into insurance markets. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that eliminating the ACA’s individual insurance mandates would result in individual insurance market premiums going up by about 10% for millions of Americans. Additionally, according to CBO, the tax bill requires a 4% cut in Medicare spending each year for the next ten years, starting with a cut of roughly $25 billion in 2018.
Each of these provisions will have a negative impact on far too many Americans seeking a better life. We need to make sure that this language is not included in the final bill.
As Congress moves forward on tax reform, your voice is needed more than ever on Capitol Hill to prevent the elimination of critical higher education tax provisions and to safeguard access to health insurance. Please take action now and urge Congress to reject provisions in any final tax reform legislation that increase health care premiums for Americans and increase students’ costs of attendance. Reject efforts that put higher education and health care further out of reach for Americans!