Senate Republicans are considering repealing Obamacare's individual mandate, which requires that Americans have health care coverage or pay a fine to the IRS, in their tax reform legislation, CNBC reported.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.) said repealing the mandate would be discussed on Thursday at the Republican conference lunch.
President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that repealing the individual mandate should be considered.
"I am proud of the Rep. House and Senate for working so hard on cutting taxes (and reform.)," Trump tweeted. "We're getting close! Now, how about ending the unfair and highly unpopular individual mandate in Obamacare and reducing taxes even further? Cut top rate to 35% with all of the rest going to middle income cuts?"
Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) also said he is planning to introduce an amendment to the Senate's tax plan to give middle-income earners bigger tax cuts that would repeal the individual mandate.
"A repeal of the mandate could alleviate one concern held by some House Republicans about the Senate's version of the bill," the CNBC article states. "But it also could make it more difficult for the tax bill to pass because of worries by some GOP members about big drops in the number of Americans with health insurance that would result from repeal of the mandate."
According to Sen. Paul, an additional $300 billion in tax cuts could be possible if the mandate were repealed.