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May 14, 2009
Obama and Democrats Want To Tax Health Care to Pay for Health Care?
Tax Health Care to Pay for Health Care?
Most people with job-based health insurance don't think of their benefits as a form of income. But Uncle Sam might just change that.
Senators are considering limiting -- but not eliminating -- the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits to help pay for President Barack Obama's plan to provide coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans.
Employer-provided health insurance technically is considered part of workers' compensation, but unlike wages, it is not taxed. The forgone revenue to the federal government amounts to about $250 billion a year.
So even if they're lucky enough to avoid going to the doctor or hospital, and never use their job-based health insurance, some Americans may find themselves paying taxes on at least part of its value.
Senators on Tuesday held a round-table discussion to begin grappling with how to finance guaranteed coverage, a cornerstone of Obama's plan to overhaul the health care system. Independent experts put the costs at about $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Obama sees a world in which doctors and hospitals compete to offer quality service at lower costs, and the savings help cover the uninsured. Turning that vision into reality remains the biggest challenge for the president and his backers, because hard cash -- not just ideas -- is required to cover upfront costs of expanding coverage.
The final financing package is likely to include a mix of tax increases and spending cuts in federal health programs. Among the possibilities are tax increases on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and sugary soft drinks, and restrictions on other health care-related tax breaks, such as flexible spending accounts.
But some taxes don't seem to be on the table, such as a federal sales levy to pay for health care or a new payroll tax.
Congressional leaders say they want to pass legislation in the Senate and House this summer.
On the question of taxing health benefits, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who chaired Tuesday's round table, is staking out a position that could put him at odds with Obama.
The president adamantly opposed such taxes during the campaign, arguing they would undermine job-based coverage. Obama's aides now say he's open to suggestions from Congress, even if he criticized Republican presidential rival John McCain for proposing a sweeping version of the same basic idea.
Baucus said he wants to modify the tax break, not abolish it.
"We are not going to repeal it," he said.
Baucus suggested that the benefit could be limited by taxing health insurance provided to high-income individuals, although he did not specify at what income levels. He also said that plans offering rich benefits -- for example, no co-payments or deductibles -- might be taxed once their value exceeded a yet-to-be-determined threshold.
Many experts say Congress won't be able to come up with the kind of money needed to provide coverage for all unless limitations on the health care tax break are part of the mix.
Wild Thing's comment...........
The evil of socialism is on the march. Obama and the democrats will destroy whatever they touch, and their hands are everywhere.
So they plan to tax the crap at of those of us who have insurance through our employers, so we CANNOT afford it anymore.
Mike Pence, R-Ind., said that despite the cooperation of private insurers, hospitals and doctors, the health care plan will still hurt the private insurance system and put Americans on the government dole.
“That is simply a pathway to socialized medicine and the American people aren’t buying it,” he said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said offering a government option to buy health care will starve out the private option.
“I think we have to be very careful here that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” he said. “Let’s go in and figure out how we can better control costs. Let’s go in and figure out how we can better provide access to affordable high quality insurance.”
.
.....Thank you Richard for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 14, 2009 05:44 AM
Comments
But "those making less than $250,000 will not have their taxes raised". Now there's taxes and taxes and this administration is so good at leaving out those pesky details. And unfortunately the obamabots can't do anything but echo whatever comes out of the Massah's mouth. Funny, how they do not see the irony of their own savior setting out to create another slave class.
Must be his white half...
Posted by: yankeemom at May 14, 2009 07:30 AM
Oh sure--no taxes on me--right!!! Tell me something I don't already know. Find another way to take care of healthcare--not off the backs of hardworking Americans who are taxed enough already! I use this analogy. Let's say you give your kids a hamburger, green beans, a baked potato and ice cream for supper. The taxes just took away the potato and ice cream. Soon enough, the burger will be gone too. I'm tired of paying for other people's problems when I have my own to worry about. Like how to feed my kids, keep a roof over their heads, put shoes and clothes on them.
Posted by: Lynn at May 14, 2009 08:22 AM
I posted the below earlier. I got it from Vermont Loon Watch. http://vermontloonwatch.wordpress.com/
Enjoy.
Why I vote Democrat
…and kids, Conservatives can’t do this; they aren’t logical enough to think like this!
Believe it kids, this is why you too can be a Liberal and say:
I vote Democrat because
I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want.
I am a white person going through a sex-change operation who has decided to marry a black, transsexual former lesbian (the parent of three kids born out of wedlock) and adopt an Asian child–just to make my life interesting.
I vote Democrat because
I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.
I vote Democrat because
I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
I vote Democrat because
Freedom of speech is fine as long as it doesn’t offend me.
I vote Democrat because
When we pull out of Iraq I believe that the bad guys will stop what they are doing because they now think we are good people.
I vote Democrat because
I’m way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.
I vote Democrat because
I believe that people who can’t tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in 10 years if I don’t start driving a Prius.
I vote Democrat because
I’m not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death-row inmates alive.
I vote Democrat because
I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education and Social Security benefits.
I vote Democrat because
I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit.
I vote Democrat because
I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
I vote Democrat because
My head is so firmly planted up my ass that it is unlikely that I’ll ever have or acknowledge another point of view.
But I can wiggle my ears!
Posted by: Bob A at May 14, 2009 10:16 AM
Chrissie,
Your most recent raft of postings are greatness. I look forward to reading you every day!
Taxing working Americans' health care to pay for others' health care is nothing if not pure-dee ratbastard commie redistribution of wealth.
Obama must be impeached for failure to uphold his oath of office. Just read the presidential oath... Taking our nation down the road to communism is not upholding that oath!
Posted by: Billy Ray at May 14, 2009 11:00 AM
Since medical insurance bought and paid for by me has been declared an employee/retiree 'benefit' by my former Blue Eyed Arab employer, I get taxed on the 'imputed value' of that benefit because it's 'their' group plan. Albeit it isn't much but it is a hidden tax, that tax now will be expanded, imposed openly and harshly on everyone but...guess who? Those indigenous perpetually on the dole for 6 successive generations and of course those new Hamas emigre's and those about to be new Mexican citizens already here illegally. They be Dhimmocrat voters too!!!
Hey!!! Wait a minute we're gonna get dividends on our banking and automotive investments, right!!! Tiny Tax Cheat Tim told us so, its going to be okey-dokey after all!!!
Posted by: Jack at May 14, 2009 03:51 PM
Has this genius Tiny Tim ever come up with a plan to save us from ourselves? That's what he was suppose to do. In fact there was nobody else in the 'whole wide world' as smart as Tim 'the Tax Cheat'.
If he is so damn smart how come he finally got caught, Oh I forgot, Timmy had a epiphany right after being nominated for the Treasury.
With Health Care added in, the Government (?), We the People will owe about 12.5 Trillion bucks just a little more than the Gross National Product. The Fed is printing money as fast as Obama can spend it. The more money they put out there the faster we are going to hit the inflation skids, and soon the Peso will be worth more than the dollar.
Hey maybe that's obama's plan to solve the immigration crisis, make the Peso worth more than the Green back and all the Wet backs will go back home.
Posted by: Mark at May 14, 2009 07:30 PM
