Tax on Benefits, Soda Among Options in Health-Care Bill Debate

[Old Coot]

Source: Bloomberg

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate Finance Committee provided an early glimpse of ways Congress might pay for the overhaul of health care President Barack Obama wants, outlining a range of options that included new taxes on employer-provided health insurance and levies on sugar-sweetened drinks.

In a document released yesterday, committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the panel’s top Republican, said taxing health benefits would address so-called “Cadillac plans” they said promote overuse of health-care services and boost the cost of care. The two senators also proposed scouring Medicare and other aspects of the U.S. health-care system for cost savings.

“Health-care reform must preserve the things Americans like about our health-care system,” Baucus said in a statement. “But it must also begin to slow the rapid increases in health- care costs that take up more and more of the budget for American families and businesses.”

The committee will meet behind closed doors May 20 to discuss the options, with a goal of getting a health-care bill to the Senate floor in July. Obama’s budget request for the 2010 fiscal year sets aside $634 billion over 10 years to pay for health-care changes.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20090519/pl_bloomberg... ;_ylt=Ah0nh07rRhJU4HYBgUknvqOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJsbWI2djNyBGFzc2V0A2Jsb29tYmVyZy8yMDA5MDUxOS9ha216aGtqaXN3X3MEY3BvcwM1BHBvcwMxMwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNiZW5lZml0c3NvZGE-

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It looks like the public is going to be shafted again.

[ejpoeta]

1. the only people i see getting 'cadillac' healthcare are the congress

who regulate for the rest of us what our health care is like... which is definitely NOT cadillac anything.... we are lucky if we get ford taurus... most of us get pinto.

[CreekDog]

6. what health benefits does the congress get?

[atreides1]

19. Better then Federal workers and Military retirees

That's for sure.

[CreekDog]

21. is Congress insured by the same Federal Employees Health Benefits that federal employees get?

[Old Coot]

7. Until this year I had fairly good health insurance.....

I was paying through the nose for it. It had no deductible and low co-pays. I could use any provider signed up with Blue Cross.

Then, this year, they got rid of that plan and moved me into a high deductible plan. My cost is half of that as the plan last year. I would rather pay more and have good insurance. They call the new plan a "consumerist" plan, in that the cost is so high for procedures that the consumers have to decide if they really, really need them.

They also banned colonoscopies. They won't pay, even after the deductibles. They say it isn't necessary. I am supposed to get one every 5 years. So now, I guess, I will just take my chances.

I wonder if they consider my new plan a Cadillac plan?

[SharonAnn]

38. My husband is dying of colon cancer becauase of not getting colonoscopy when he should've.

If you've had polyps, you MUST have regular screening. One six month regimen of chemotherapy (after the expensive surgery) costs more than $150,000 and it may not work.

[paulsby]

11. fuck them. i guess i get cadillac

100% of premium is paid by my agency.

we negotiated that.

it's a 12k a year benefit.



chiro, massage, meds, etc.

i'll vote against anybody who taxes this stuff.

i'm middle class, btw. and this hurts us, promises aside

[Journeyman]

13. Yeah. Fuck 'em. I got mine. . .

[paulsby]

14. i was awaiting such a reply...

when we NEGOTIATED this benefit, we did so with the understanding that it was an UNTAXED benefit.

now, our president/congress, who claimed to be a friend of the middle class, is changing the rules and thinking about taxing these.

fuck them.

many many people are in my same situation. one of the reasons i CHOSE my job was the benefits and security.

this affects cops, firefighters, etc. basic joes. SIGNIFICANTLY.
assuming they are taxed at my marginal tax rate, i'm looking at about 4k a year of extra taxes, if they tax our benefits.

that is a change, i cannot believe in

[SkyDaddy7]

15. I see your point...

Better be glad Single Payer was not the route they were gonna go. I am disabled and on Medicare and YIKES!! It really is not that bad if you are young and do not need to go to the doctor often. But what can I do with a spinal cord injury I am lucky to have what I do!

However, I know there are many out there with plans like yours who would have lost it all with single payer.

I think the tax will be determined by income? I guess I should read the article but that is what I heard discuss not to long ago. So, it might not get you.

[paulsby]

22. i'm looking at it like this

my base pay is about 75k

with overtime, i can bump that up to 90-100k, or more if i was a total overtime whore, which i am not.

i do contribute (max out) my deferred compensation, which is like a public employees 401k (except there is no matching)

max contribution is 15k. that's pre-tax money, but it obviously comes out of my income.

i also have capital gains and investment income depending on how much trading i do.

so, off the cuff guess, my marginal tax rate will be high enough such that if the 12k benefit is taxed at that rate (which may be an erroneous assumption), i'm looking at 4k less income this year

ouch

[CreekDog]

30. how much would one year of COBRA cost you if you were laid off?

4K? you wish!!!

and if decent health insurance for all were the absolute floor in terms of benefits, your agency wouldn't be able to offer to pay for it to get your agreement, they would have to put it somewhere else, like salaries or other benefits instead.

and nevermind that you and your family would spend over 4k in a matter of months were you to lose your job and employer-paid health insurance.

and nevermind that if you have a child, the chances of them going out and getting and keeping health insurance is getting lower every year.

but you do the math and limit it to yourself and limit it to your narrow employment situation --go ahead and ignore everything around you and assume YOUR circumstances will never change and your position makes perfect sense.

except that it's not reality. you can't even see that and it's why you shouldn't even be considered credible on this issue.

[paulsby]

31. oh hell ya.

i've had more than a few medical procedures that would have cost me mass $$$

had my gallbladder out last year.

cost me $5

that's not my point.

my point is my situation is not narrow.

it's relatively common amongst fire, police, etc.

so, you are wrong on that.

hth

[CreekDog]

32. it is narrow you knucklehead

if you make it sound like it's prudent for you to only consider your situation now, this year and in your current job, you're an idiot.

how many people last year had good insurance and a good job and this year have none of that and are facing homelessness to boot?

if you don't consider those things when you are not facing any of them, then you are a two bit ignoramous.

if you wait to consider them until you face them, you will have almost no chance of facing them down.

this is about you and me with good jobs and good benefits making sure it stays that way.

knucklehead.

[paulsby]

33. since you have devolved into

childish name calling, ...

i'm done wit ya!

when and if you have the ability to discuss opposing viewpoints in an intelligent and adult manner let me know

[CreekDog]

35. the "knucklehead" part was to get your attention

[paulsby]

36. kind of like

"your honor, it wasn't an assault. i slapped my wife to get her attention!"

got it!

carry on

[CreekDog]

37. oh yes, it was JUST like that!

[SharonAnn]

39. So, it's relatively common among those who get benefits paid by the taxpayer.

So those whose bills are paid by the taxpayer get great cadillac care by the taxpayers themselves?

[DJ13]

2. The committee will meet behind closed doors ..........

Cowards.

Wheres the transparency we voted for?

[atreides1]

18. That was so pre-November 3rd

After that, transparency is just another word that politicians use to get elected.

[mike_c]

3. change you can believe in....

Not.

[ikojo]

4. John McCain advocated taxing the portion of one's

premium paid by the employer as income. Will this hurt high income earners? Most likely not but an additional four or five thousand dollars being subject to income tax would certainly hurt me.


Another Republican idea the Democrats seem all too willing to embrace.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. Write Baucus and tell him to return the 1.8 million the health care industrial complex pays him to

fuck us over.

Send hand written letters. Lots. I'm serious.

[w4rma]

5. Income or capital gains tax increase. On the top-most earners. (nt)

[John Q. Citizen]

8. Baucus insits that reform has to be bi-partisan. But he didn't have those concerns when he

crossed the aisle and passed the Repo Medicare drug bill. That was cool that it was almost 100 percent Repos supporting it and a few DINOS like him.

Recent polls have shown that about 25% of Americans consider themselves Repos.

Recent polls have also shown that about 60% of Americans support a single payer system, simular to what Canada enjoys.

So Max would hold the American people's health care future hostage unless 12.5% of the population (half the Repos)go along and make it "bi-partisan?

[liberal N proud]

9. I can understand sin taxes but benefits are not a sin

Isn't taxing the benefit you are trying to provide going to be counter productive?

[ladywnch]

12. great! so now we'll get double dipped screwed on health insurance

first we'll be out of pocket to pay for our portion of coverage and then we'll get taxed on what the employer pays. great! this will help a lot! jackasses!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

16. So you'll get taxed just like gay couples do

Seems fair to me.

[FreeState]

17. Welcome to the current system for GLBT Americans n/t

[Betty88]

25. been paying it for years for my partner nt

[Oregone]

20. Will this cause people to withdraw from employer provided health care plans?

You know, maybe, juuuuust maybe....if there is a real viable public option that is publicly funded and cheaper than private, and people are discouraged from private coverage, just maybe this will be "good". It could cause people to choose a public option in such masses private insurance goes under? Could this be possible? Maybe Im reading this the wrong way. On the surface, it seems like a horrendous idea. Then when looking at it closer in the proper context, who knows.

[AllyCat]

26. No, because in Baucus' world, there is no public insurance option

Otherwise, your thinking would be perfectly reasonable. But that is not the context. Otherwise, I'd be all for it.

[JDPriestly]

23. Taxing benefits raises the cost of healthcare. This is absurd.

As for massage, when I lived in France, women were given massage after childbirth. I have been told it was to help them recover abdominal muscle tone. Sounds frivolous, but I guess it really isn't at all.

[RufusH]

24. They appear to want to model it after Domestic Partner benefits that are already taxed.

I guess that's one way to level that particular playing field without giving gays equal rights. Give straights the same penalties. Brilliant.

[AllyCat]

27. Welcome to DU! Your observation is definitely something I missed.

Thanks for the perspective.

[Old Coot]

28. My employer provided health plan covers domestic partners the same as spouses.

There is no tax on the benefits.

FYI

[RufusH]

29. That's impossible. It would be an IRS violation for them not to tax it.

The only way they could do it would be to "gross up" your salary so that the taxes on the imputed income of the benefit would be paid to you first, then deducted in the same check as taxes.

So, instead of reporting a benefit of say, $500 a month, for which you end up paying an additional $200 a month in taxes (as I do), they would have to gross it up to report $700 and actually pay you the $200, which would be then deducted. Very few employers do that. If they do that for you then you are one of the LUCKY ones.

http://www.hrc.org/issues/4820.htm

FYI

[ProgressIn2008]

34. Obscene, truly. It feels like there is no political system anymore, just our overlords

I'd slam my head against the monitor in frustration, but how would I pay for the trip to the emergency room?

Tired of this bullshit from pols in expensive suits who don't worry paying for doctors, emergency rooms, daycare and lost time/shit at work when their kids get sick. Tired of D's, tired of R's, tired of the lot of them. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll wave some lace from the carriage as they go past, and tell us we can eat cake.