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October 3rd, 2009, 11:28 AM
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/815925.html
"WASHINGTON -- There's a growing sense in some circles in Congress that one good way to make health insurance less expensive is to tax some of it.
The Senate Finance Committee late Thursday tweaked, but preserved, a central component of Chairman Max Baucus' health care plan: a 40 percent excise tax on the most expensive health insurance plans, starting in 2013."
I'm not sure I follow the reasoning here. They want to tax high end policies to force people to go to low end policies. Low end, low cost policies cover less, leaving more to be paid out of pocket and putting more of the burden on the individual. Isn't that part of what they are trying to remedy with this whole health care nightmare, making medical care more affordable for more people, along with getting more people covered? If more and more people have to pay more out of pocket because their insurance covers less, how does that help anyone?
The article also states that "The Congressional Budget Office estimates the tax could generate $215 billion of the $774 billion needed to pay for the Senate Finance health plan over 10 years." cha ching!
"WASHINGTON -- There's a growing sense in some circles in Congress that one good way to make health insurance less expensive is to tax some of it.
The Senate Finance Committee late Thursday tweaked, but preserved, a central component of Chairman Max Baucus' health care plan: a 40 percent excise tax on the most expensive health insurance plans, starting in 2013."
I'm not sure I follow the reasoning here. They want to tax high end policies to force people to go to low end policies. Low end, low cost policies cover less, leaving more to be paid out of pocket and putting more of the burden on the individual. Isn't that part of what they are trying to remedy with this whole health care nightmare, making medical care more affordable for more people, along with getting more people covered? If more and more people have to pay more out of pocket because their insurance covers less, how does that help anyone?
The article also states that "The Congressional Budget Office estimates the tax could generate $215 billion of the $774 billion needed to pay for the Senate Finance health plan over 10 years." cha ching!