Center for American Progress

Costs of Corruption: Tax Bill Leads to Higher Health Premiums and Big Tax Cuts for the Rich
Article

Costs of Corruption: Tax Bill Leads to Higher Health Premiums and Big Tax Cuts for the Rich

Authors Alex Rowell and Seth Hanlon describe how the Trump administration and its allies in Congress gave massive tax cuts to the wealthy that were funded in part through health care sabotage.

President Donald Trump promised that “the rich will not be gaining at all” from tax reform and that his administration would make health insurance “a lot less expensive.” Yet when he signed the tax bill into law in December 2017, he broke both of these promises. The wealthy will see enormous windfalls, paid for in part by an undermining of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and some families will face increases in health care premiums far larger than the average tax cuts received by working- and middle-class families across the country.

The tax cuts contained in the congressional GOP tax bill are tilted dramatically to the richest taxpayers. The bill’s massive corporate tax cuts, creation of a new loophole for certain business owners, and doubling of the estate tax exemption are all targeted toward those at the top of the income scales.* As a result, in 2019, the average member of the top 1 percent will see a tax cut 81 times larger than the average working- and middle-class family in the bottom 80 percent of the income distribution.

The above excerpt was originally published in CAP Action. Click here to view the full article.

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.

Authors

Alex Rowell

Policy Analyst

Seth Hanlon

Former Acting Vice President, Economy