The Gang of One Plan: A Huge Tax on Workers
Max Baucus has released his plan, with no cosponsors.
“There is no way in its present form that I will vote for it.” — Sen. Jay Rockefeller (W-Va.) “The Baucus bill is the worst piece of healthcare legislation I’ve seen in 30 years.” — Former DNC chair Howard Dean “Seldom have so many waited so long for so little. This isn’t negotiation; it is capitulation to the insurance industry.” — Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)This is James Capretta’s take:
[It has] three key provisions: a requirement that individuals secure “qualified coverage” or pay a hefty tax to the federal government (the so-called “individual mandate”); a requirement on most employers to offer “qualified coverage” to their full-time workers; and a “firewall” which requires most working Americans to sign up with insurance offered on the job without any additional governmental assistance…
For low wage, full-time workers who are offered qualified coverage on the job, the hidden and implicit taxes of Obamacare are truly stunning. A worker with an annual income at 200 percent of the federal poverty line — $44,100 if the worker is married with two children — could be required to sign up with insurance costing $13,375 per year. The employee portion of the premium would be notionally capped at 13 percent of annual income, or $5,720. The employer would pay the other $7,655 — but the employer portion too would come out of the worker’s take-home pay (possibly after some period of adjustment)… The foregone tax liability on an average employer-sponsored plan is likely to be about $4000 (including payroll taxes). The other $9,000 plus in health insurance premiums — regardless of how it is split between worker and firm — would be shouldered by the worker himself. At $44,100, a $9,000 health insurance premium amounts to 20 percent of income.
This is hilarious. Not the tax on labor, but the way the Democrats are fighting with each other.
The only thing bipartisan about this bill is the opposition to it.
This may be a good development. The Democrats appear to be coming apart.
I believe the best of all possible worlds at this point is no bill at all.
I agree with Vicki.