New House Bill Could Kill the Net Investment Income Tax

That's less generous than the current rules, which were adopted during the middle of the COVID-19 emergency and make subsidies available at any income level if the cost of mid-level coverage would eat up more than about 10% of an individual's income.

But the 600% of federal poverty level limit is up from the limit of 400% of the federal poverty law included in the original law.

Westerman put "repeal of net investment provision" toward the bottom of the bill. The provision is two sentences long and would simply eliminate the tax.

The net investment income tax backdrop: The drafters of the Affordable Care Act added the tax in an effort to offset the cost of new ACA spending.

The tax can apply to certain types of investment income over a minimum threshold for single filers reporting as little as $200,000 in "modified adjusted gross income," or total income used for ACA benefits calculations, and for married, joint filers earning as little as $250,000.

Drafters called the tax a Medicare surtax, but advocates for Medicare funding reform, including the Senior Citizens League, have noted that Congress has put the revenue from the tax in general revenue, not in the trust fund that's supposed to support the Medicare Part A hospitalization insurance program.

Westerman has introduced similar Fair Care Act bills in the past, and the earlier versions have also included net investment income tax repeal provisions.

In addition to participating on the Republican Study Committee, he is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.