Problem is, poor people don't pay much tax.. So write off doesn't help...

Hawley pitches new health care tax plan

The Missouri Republican is proposing making it easier for more tax payers to deduct medical expenses — and has pitched Donald Trump on the idea.

Jordain Carney

Sen. Josh Hawley is pitching his colleagues — and President Donald Trump — on a new health care plan.

The Missouri Republican’s proposal comes as his party is grappling separately over what its strategy on health care should be as the Senate stares down a floor vote next week on soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Hawley believes his new bill, which would allow all tax payers to deduct up to $25,000 per person in medical expenses, would help offer Republicans an agenda to coalesce behind while boosting the GOP’s affordability message heading into an election year. The bill also allows out of pocket spending on premiums to be deducted.

“I think we need to be very sensitive to the fact that health care is just out-of-control expensive and I think folks need to know that we care about that — we want to do something about it,” Hawley said in an interview.

Currently, only taxpayers who itemize can deduct certain unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of a person’s adjusted gross income. But Hawley said allowing families to deduct medical expenses in addition to the standard deduction “would make that available for lots of families.” “It could save people a lot of money,” he added.

Hawley said that he discussed the proposal shortly before Thanksgiving with Trump, who he described as being intrigued by the idea.

“I said, you know, ‘no taxes on tips, no taxes on health care’, and he goes ‘oh I like that,’” Hawley recounted.

But Hawley said he hasn’t yet discussed his proposal with Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who is leading efforts to develop a GOP health care plan, or Majority Leader John Thune. He suggested, however, that if Congress doesn’t come up with a plan to address the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies, his bill could be a fall-back option.

“This [proposal] while it wouldn’t replace all of the premium tax credits, it would get close if you structured it the right way,” Hawley said. “If we can’t reach any kind of agreement where it looks like nothing’s really going to move that will pass, I’ll make the pitch well why don’t we do this, why don’t we vote on this, so we can tell people ‘hey we’re going to help you immediately.’”