House panel Republicans say Obama ‘playing politics’ on 1099 repeal

The White House and Democrats have joined Republicans in calling for the repeal of the healthcare law’s 1099 requirement for small businesses to report annual payments of more than $600 to each vendor. However, the administration has yet to endorse a strategy that pays for the cost of repeal, priced at $22 billion

Ways and Means ranking member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) argued Tuesday that the Republican pay-for could require some families to pay back the entire tax break for purchasing health insurance, which starts in 2014, if their salary changes during the year and pushes them over the subsidy threshold.

“It reinstates a steep cliff we eliminated in December legislation that smoothed out payments,” Levin told the House Rules Committee on Tuesday.

The White House also said it had serious concerns about an alternative plan, which passed the Senate last month, that would pay for repeal by authorizing the Office of Management and Budget to target unobligated federal funds. That plan “could cause serious disruption in a wide range of services provided by the Federal government,” the administration said.