Washington, D.C. – As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, House Republicans are once again preparing to give hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to drug and health insurance companies and ignoring the clear message from the midterms to end the GOP war on health care. Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement in response:
“Voters sent a clear message in the 2018 elections — end the GOP war on health care and stop attacking protections for pre-existing conditions. But instead of listening to their constituents, this latest GOP proposal is just another massive tax break for large drug and health insurance companies. While their profits and CEO compensation soars, Americans pay more for their drugs and health care premiums. Make no mistake, Americans are fed up with the relentless Republican sabotage campaign and their ongoing support for President Trump’s effort in the courts to declare protections for pre-existing conditions unconstitutional.”
BACKGROUND:
Last December, Congressional Republicans Used The Tax Bill As A Vehicle To Sabotage The Affordable Care Act. By using the tax bill to repeal the requirement that most people have insurance, it Republicans are expected to increase the number of uninsured Americans by 12 million. In 2021, the repeal of the individual mandate is expected to save $30.6 billion from health care cuts, savings resulting from 12 million Americans losing health insurance. In that same year, the tax cuts for millionaires total $29.8 billion.
Drug Companies Are Reaping The Benefits Of Republicans’ Last Tax Bill While Americans Pay More. The health industry brought in $51.8 billion in profit during the third quarter — approximately 63 percent of which went to drug companies. Of 19 companies in the health industry that amassed at least $1 billion in third-quarter profit, 14 were drug companies. Axios reports that “Drug firm AbbVie paid $14 million of income taxes on $2.76 billion of pre-tax earnings in the third quarter — an effective tax rate of just 0.5%. Pfizer’s effective tax rate in Q3 was 1.6%.” These astronomical earnings come during a year during the first seven months of which there were 96 price hikes for every price cut.