​The U.S. Senate voted 51-49 early Saturday to approve the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), legislation to reform the nation’s tax code. The Senate-passed bill includes provisions that would repeal enforcement of the Affordable Care Act mandate that most individuals have health insurance, eliminate hospitals' ability to access low-cost capital financing through advance refunding bonds but preserve private activity bonds and impose a 20 percent excise tax on pay for certain non-profit hospital employees. The legislation now must be reconciled with the House-passed bill, which would not repeal the individual mandate but would eliminate tax-exemption for private-activity bonds, as well as advance refunding bonds, impose a 20 percent excise tax on certain non-profit hospital employees and eliminate the medical expense deduction for people with high medical costs. The House in a 222-192 vote on Monday approved a motion to go to conference with the Senate and are meeting this week to resolve their differences. At stake is continued access to tax-exempt financing for hospitals. It is vital that conferees hear from hospitals in support of retaining the hospital bond tax exemption, included in the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1, as well as the impact of losing access to low-cost capital financing through advance refunding bonds.

No dates have been released for when the House and Senate are expected to vote on a final compromise bill but all indications are that Congress wants to have a final vote before the holiday recess which is slated to begin on Dec. 15. Click here for a summary of the two bills.