Healthcare bill is really tax cut for Sheldon Adelson: Priscilla Maloney

Priscilla Maloney | Special to the RGJ

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump: Health care 'tough,' but will get passed President Donald Trump says getting approval of a Senate health care bill will be 'very tough.' But he predicts that Republicans will at least 'get very close' and may 'get it over the line.' (June 28)

Sheldon Adelson made his money in casinos and trade shows, but his most important investment yet might be Republican Senator Dean Heller. If Heller finds a path to voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act – and he’s reportedly back at the negotiating table – then it will be a jackpot for Adelson. In fact, Adelson stands to receive a $48,000,000 million tax break if Trumpcare is signed into law.

With a net worth of $36 billion, the casino magnate is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals. His cash transfusions to political causes are consistently counted on to line Republican coffers. In 2016, for example, he gave upwards of $82 million to conservative candidates and causes.

Heller has been a prime beneficiary of this largesse. Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation was the largest contributor to Heller’s 2012 re-election, giving $48,750 to his campaign and $17,300 to his political action committee.

Those contributions pale in comparison to the $23 million Adelson donated in the 2012 cycle to Karl Rove’s super PAC and 501(c)(4) group. Rove’s groups spent just over $7 million attacking Heller’s Democratic opponent. And Adelson contributed $1.15 million to another group, Ending Spending Action Fund, which also supported Heller.

All of these are smart investments when you consider the $500 million Adelson might take home over the next decade if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. Half a billion dollars.

A new report from the tax fairness group Tax March details the extent to which Adelson benefits from repeal efforts while tens of millions of Americans could lose their health care. The repeal of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) would result in a massive windfall for Adelson, providing a $48 million annual tax giveaway for him.

The gains of billionaires come at a high price for an estimated 138,100 Nevadans who will lose their health coverage under the bill. TrumpCare weakens protections for Nevadans with pre-existing conditions, limits the benefits health plans will cover, and guts Medicaid funding.

The Tax Policy Center found that TrumpCare’s $600 billion tax giveaways would “go almost entirely to the highest earning households, while providing little or no benefit to the bottom 80 percent of the income distribution.”

Last year, I was diagnosed with three different cancers and underwent 10 months of cancer treatment. My husband had been laid off from his job, and we lost our employer-sponsored insurance. Without the protections in the Affordable Care Act, we would have been unable to afford the enormous financial costs of breast cancer treatment.

Ultimately, Senator Heller’s decision is simple: do you support tax cuts for your wealthy donors, or will you protect the health care of Nevadans like me? When the time comes for Dean Heller to cast his vote, let’s hope he remembers that Sheldon Adelson is not his only constituent.

Priscilla Maloney is an organizer, lawyer, mom, activist and breast cancer survivor who lives in Reno.