On December 2nd, the Senate voted to pass a major tax reform legislation that will create adverse affects on both psychologists and consumer access to mental health. This bill will be appealing the mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as it cuts Medicare’s annual spending by 4% for the next decade, with an initial estimate cut of $25 billion from the 2018 budget. Such restrictions on the budget causes the average premiums in the individual market to increase by 10%, causing millions of American citizens to lose their health insurance coverage.
The vote to pass this legislation was 51-49. Congress are now taking steps towards conference committee work in order to resolve differences between the House and the Senate version, with a goal of passing the final version of the legislation within days. Follow the link here to tell your Members of Congress to reject any legislation that contains provisions that repeal the ACA’s individual mandate and eliminates critical higher education tax supports.
