The Senate on Feb. 2 signaled its intention to repeal from the health reform law a tax-reporting requirement that has been labeled as overly burdensome by the medical and business communities.
The Affordable Care Act currently includes a provision requiring businesses – including physician practices – to file a 1099 tax form with the Internal Revenue Service for all vendor payments of more than $600 per year. The requirement is set to take effect in 2012.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) proposed repealing the 1099 requirement as an amendment to the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (S. 223). The amendment was passed by a vote of 81-17.
The American Medical Association has been lobbying against the 1099 requirement, noting that compliance would be expensive and would negatively impact physicians' practices.
"It is estimated that paperwork already takes up as much as a third of a physician's workday – time that could be better spent with patients – and this provision would only increase that burden," AMA President Cecil B. Wilson said in a statement.
The reporting requirement is one of the few potential changes to the Affordable Care Act on which Democrats and Republicans can agree. In the State of the Union address last week, President Obama singled out the repeal of the 1099 requirement as a change he would support. The mention drew a standing ovation from members of Congress.