Lake County Gazette

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), co-sponsor of the Ax the Tax on Middle Class Americans' Health Plans Act, is pleased to see that nine Democrat Senators support repealing the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) tax for high-cost health plans.

One of the most recent -- and prominent --  Democrat supporters is presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).  

The ACA includes a so-called "Cadillac tax," which Hultgren and others believe burdens employers with taxes for high-cost health plans.

“If they don’t change their coverage, more than 50 percent of employers will risk triggering the 40 percent tax in the next seven years,” Hultgren wrote in a recent letter to the editor published in the DeKalb, Illinois Daily Chronicle.

In addition to the Ax the Tax Act, Hultgren also introduced the State Health Care Options Act of 2015 in response to dramatically escalating health care costs, including an expected 30 percent increase for some plan participants in Illinois next year. 

“Forcing Americans to buy health insurance plans, and then taxing those same plans, has been an exercise in governmental mismanagement since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law,” Hultgren said. “Americans should have the freedom to choose what health plan serves them and their families best without fear of the government slamming them with added costs. I am glad Senate Democrats, who helped pass the ACA into law before I entered in Congress, finally agree. I similarly urge the House to act on my State Health Care Options Act to allow states the freedom and flexibility to pursue their own health insurance possibilities.”