NOTICIAS

Washington, D.C.- Today, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Territory Health Insurance Tax Relief Act of 2016 to provide relief to the U.S. Territories where the annual fee on health insurance providers is imposed without regard to the way they are treated under other provisions of the law.
 
“The Health Insurance Tax is one of a small number of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that applies to the Territories. It serves as a tax on health insurance providers and is passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.  Since the territories do not receive the same benefits that that District of Columbia and the 50 states receive under the Affordable Care Act under several important provisions in the law, this burden is unfair and should be revised.  The Territory Health Insurance Tax Relief Act of 2016 would amend the ACA’s Section 9010 by exempting health insurance providers in the territories from paying the tax. Since residents of the territories are ineligible to use the ACA marketplace to obtain insurance, it’s necessary that we provide relief to those who are incorrectly subjected to this burdensome tax,” said Curbelo. “I thank Rep. Pedro Pierluisi, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, for being the original co-sponsor of the Territory Health Insurance Tax Relief Act of 2016 and Senator Marco Rubio for introducing the Senate companion of this legislation.
 
“ObamaCare doesn’t only harm the pocketbooks of Americans on the mainland; it hurts Americans in Puerto Rico too. The liberal technocrats who wrote and passed this disastrous law were blind to the needs of the island and instituted a health insurance tax that raises premiums for millions of consumers,” said Rubio. “It is unfair to Puerto Ricans to have to pay this ObamaCare tax and endure higher premiums, only to be excluded from participating in the same health system that the rest of the United States does. This legislation would repeal ObamaCare’s costly and unfair tax on Puerto Rico and help begin the process of revitalizing the health care system on the island.”