Health reform, taxes and affordable health insurance coverage are currently major issues in Washington. Ongoing debates between congressional democrats, the Obama administration and democratic negotiators have managed to piece together a reform bill that will enable more affordable insurance for all Americans. The question of how it will be paid for, however, is a key factor in the debate. One of the most discussed options is higher taxes.
Often referred to as the “Cadillac tax”, named for the luxury car, proposes that taxes on high-dollar insurance plans be put it place. This means that the rich would get higher taxes on insurance, while the poor would get higher subsidies. When the health care reform bill emerged from the Senate Finance Committee, taxes were applied to plans exceed $8500 for individuals and $23,000 for families.
Unfortunately, the tax will likely affect a large portion of the middle class. This is due to projected higher costs in health care and co-pays for employees regardless of their job. The tax would apply to many high risk jobs, as well as more lucrative ones such as Wall Street bankers and CEOs. It would affect approximately 20% of companies in the nation.
Thus far, moves to stop the tax on health insurance have proved successful for unions who will not have to pay higher rates until 2018. However, new measures for providing revenue for affordable health care still need to addressed and finalized. The final draft of Obama’s health care reform plan is expected to be completed on Friday.
Written by Lani Shadduck
Huliq.com
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