Now that the House Republicans have kept their election promise and held their symbolic but empty vote to repeal the health care reform law, they have a choice on how to move forward.

They can continue to beat the drum for full repeal, positioning themselves for the 2012 elections hoping to take the Senate and the White House, which is what it would take to actually repeal the law.

Or they can chip away, with support from some Democrats, at the features of the bill that are most onerous.

We hope they will take the second course, and we see H.R. 4, which would relieve small businesses from a huge information reporting requirement, as the place to start.

The issue is a feature in the enormous health care bill that passed last year that requires businesses to file a 1099 tax form identifying anyone whom they pay $600 or more. The provision was designed to boost compliance with the law, and was used to offset $17 billion of the bill’s cost over 10 years.

This was one of the ways that the law was supposed to “pay for” itself. But this anti-business measure would not really pay for anything. It just shifts the cost. The 1099 provision became immediately unpopular after passage of the law and several Democratic supporters of the Affordable Care Act have said they would vote to repeal it. Maine’s 2nd District Rep. Mike Michaud is one of them He is a co-sponsor of the bill and he’s on the right side this time.

There is no question that the health care reform act will be a central issue for the 2012 elections, but it is too soon for that campaign to begin. Waiting until after the next election would be too late, because the 1099 requirement goes into effect next January.

Major questions about the constitutionality of a central feature of the law, the mandate that individuals buy health insurance, will be determined in the courts. Congress has a different job to do. As long as we have divided government, members of both parties should be looking for ways to improve the law, which even its main supporters will concede is far from perfect.

There will be time for grand gestures when campaign season gets under way. Meanwhile, Congress should be looking for ways to improve the current law and repealing the 1099 requirement is a good place to start.

 

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