Senate passes 1099 reform, dents ObamaCare

Dents, but doesn’t wreck.

Congress on Tuesday passed the first major changes to last year’s health care law, undoing both a burdensome paperwork requirement for small businesses and rewriting part of the way the health exchange subsidies are paid for.

The changes are complex and don’t affect the fundamental operations of the health law, but Republicans said they are symbolic nonetheless because they mark the first repeals of significant provisions from Democrats’ signature legislative achievement under President Obama.

Sen. Orin Hatch calls this a down payment on full repeal.