Delay for ACA's Cadillac Tax Receives Strong Bipartisan Support in Senate

A measure to delay the unpopular “Cadillac tax,” part of President Obama’s health reform law, overwhelmingly passed the Senate by a 90-10 vote on Thursday.

However, the overall bill, which would repeal other parts of the Affordable Care Act, will not become law: the president has already said he will veto the bill when it lands on his desk.

A statement released by the White House said, in no uncertain terms, “If the President were presented with HR 3762, as amended by the Senate amendment, he would veto the bill.”

The Senate received strong bipartisan support for the bill, which was amended by the Senate to include a delay of the Cadillac tax. The overall bill would phase out Medicaid expansion, defund Planned Parenthood, get rid of the medical device tax, and eliminate the subsidies that help consumers buy insurance.

“Americans are living with the consequences of this broken law and its broken promises every day,” US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor before the vote. “Its negative effects are often felt in the most personal and visceral ways. And Americans are tired of being condescended to. They want change and they want a bridge to better care, not Obamacare.”

Regardless of the support the bill garnered, the Obama administration is not willing to let the president’s landmark law be unraveled.

“By repealing numerous, key elements of current law, this legislation would take away critical benefits and health care coverage from hard-working middle-class families,” the White House released in a statement. “The bill also would remove policies that are expected to help slow the growth in health care costs and that have improved the quality of care patients receive.”

Even though HR 3762 will ultimately be vetoed, there are ongoing talks to handle the Cadillac tax in other ways, according to The Hill. One possibility is to modify the tax as part of the end-of-year package of tax breaks.