Talk Politics

Comment

Comment by Rex on December 22, 2009 at 11:37am

This may not be the last word on the health care bill but it says a lot so far !

Individual Mandate Tax (Page 324/Sec. 1501/$8 bil/Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the following schedule (capped at 8 percent of income):

Single Single +1 Single +2
2014 $95 $190 $285
2015 $350 $700 $1050
2016, etc. $750 $1500 $2250


Exemptions for religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS).

Employer Mandate Tax (Page 348/Sec. 1513/$28 bil/Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $750 for all full-time employees. Applies to all employers with 50 or more employees.

If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).

Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Page 1979/Sec. 9001/$149.1 bil/Jan 2011): Starting in 2013, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($8500 single/$23,000 family). Higher threshold ($9850 single/$26,000 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions. CPI +1 percentage point indexed.

From 2013-2015, the 17 highest-cost states are 120% of this level.

Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Page 1996/Sec. 9002/Min$/Jan 2011): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 1997/Sec. 9003/$5 bil/Jan 2011): No longer allowable to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike (Page 1998/Sec. 9004/$1.3 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

FSA Cap (Page 1999/Sec. 9005/$14.6 bil/Jan 2011): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited).

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 1999/Sec. 9006/$17.1 bil/Jan 2012): Requires businesses to send 1099-MISC information tax forms to corporations (currently limited to individuals), a huge compliance burden for small employers

Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (page 2001/Sec. 9007/Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS.

Tax on Innovator Drug Companies (Page 2010/Sec. 9008/ $22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year.

Tax of Medical Device Manufacturers (Page 2020/Sec. 9009/$19.3 bil/Jan 2010): $2 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to shares of sales made that year. Exempts items retailing for <$100.

Tax on Health Insurers (Page 2026/Sec. 9010/$60.4 bil/Jan 2010): $6.7 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year.

Eliminate tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D (Page 2034/Sec. 9012/$5.4 bil/Jan 2011)

Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI (Page 2034/Sec. 9013/$15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only

$500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives (Page 2035/Sec. 9014/$0.6 bil/Jan 2013)

Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax (Page 2040/Sec. 9015/$53.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:

Wages (Employer/Employee) Self-Employment Net Income
Current Law and New Rate on First $200,000 ($250,000 MFJ) 1.45%/1.45% 2.9%
New Rate on Amount Which Exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 MFJ) 1.45%/1.95% 3.4%


The 0.5% new rate addition is not deductible for the self-employment tax adjustment.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike (Page 2044/Sec. 9016/$0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services

Tax on Cosmetic Medical Procedures (Page 2045/Sec. 9017/$5.8 bil/Jan 2010): New 5% excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery to be paid by the surgery patient.

Permalink | Email | Print | Tags: TAXES, HEALTHCARE

Comment by Rex on December 22, 2009 at 11:09am

Read my lips no new taxes ! Have i herd that one before ?

Comment by Rex on December 22, 2009 at 11:08am

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 22, 2009 at 10:18am

be cautious when comparing infant mortality rates: as the Congressional Budget Office reported several years ago:

Problems of definition and measurement, however, hamper crossnational
comparisons of health statistics. Alternative measures of infant
mortality may provide better information but cannot completely compensate for differences among countries in the overall rates of reporting of adverse pregnancy outcomes. For example, very premature births are more likely to be included in birth and mortality statistics in the United States than in several other industrialized countries that have lower infant mortality rates

The nice thing about statistics is that you can eventually get them to say wahtever you want

Comment by ctyankee on December 22, 2009 at 10:09am

Hey Mike,

Imagine how long Americans would stay healthy if we got off our collective fat [rear ends] and actually strengthened our bodies and minds like those other countries do. If people simply walked a mile a day the results would astound!

As for infant mortality, you have to consider the way it's measured. Here almost *every* conception is counted, and the results reflect that. In most of the world the tally simply excludes births that never had a chance to survive. In other words "Human Cherry Picking" It makes the statistic nearly useless as a comparative tool.

Comment by Mike Stark on December 22, 2009 at 9:52am

On the brighter side, we do beat Cuba on healthy life expectancy

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthy_life_table2.html

but for all the limitations Canadians and Brits both have a longer healthy life expectancy than we Yanks. Facts are indeed stubborn things.

The rest of the John Adams quote is instructive:
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Comment by Mike Stark on December 22, 2009 at 9:43am

@cora -- I suggest you look at the same stats for France and Germany. Both of which cover everyone for 11-12% of GDP and shorter waits than in the USA. I suggest reading TR Reid's The Healing of America, where he compares not just US and Canada, but 10 or so different foreign countries with varying systems of health care. Who knows, you might even learn the difference between government run health care and single payer. Hint: in Canada doctor's offices and hospitals are largely privately run.

More to the point, I suggest you look at infant mortality stats -- from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_...

We are doing worst than the "socialist paradise" sh**hole Cuba. I certainly don't want to live under either Castro brother, but isn't embarrassing that we are measurably worse off than a country with a tenth our per capita GDP? It is past time to think collectively about how we treat the least among us, or for the secular among us how we are as a nation realizing the third of the Four Freedoms -- Freedom from Want.

Finally, one purely pedantic point, but an important one to the Scots at least. It is the United Kingdom, not just England, that has the NHS.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 19, 2009 at 12:12pm

I'm trying understand where this fear of upsetting anyone came from? It reminds me of the old saying that when you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one.......

Comment by Rex on December 19, 2009 at 11:58am

Do some of you feel like a lot of us ?

Comment by Rex on December 19, 2009 at 11:54am

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 99
• 100
• 101
• 102
• 103
• …
• 113
• Next ›
• Page