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A Tax on Health Care Benefits: The Wrong Policy |
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Members of Congress, union members and working family activists rallied in Washington, D.C., today in support of health care reform—and against funding it with a new tax on health benefits.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who has introduced an amendment to remove a benefits tax from the Senate bill—and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) were joined by workers from across the country who would be hurt if a new benefits tax became law, as well as leaders from across the union movement.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker attended the rally and said placing a tax on working people’s health benefits would be a step in the wrong direction for health care:
Some in the Senate are now proposing that workers who already have it so hard should have to pay more for the health care they have. We’re here to say that’s just plain wrong. This is not just a union issue. Taxing benefits would hurt all workers—we know that one in five workers would be hurt by this tax and that’s a lot more people than union members.
Valeria Castle-Stanley, a call center employee and Communications Workers of America (CWA) member from Virginia, was among the workers who spoke at the rally. You can watch a video of Castle-Stanley speaking out against a tax on health care benefits.
CWA released the results of a new poll today and found 70 percent of likely voters think a tax on health care benefits is the wrong way to pay for health care reform. Some 54 percent say they’d prefer to see health care reform paid for as it is in the bill passed by the U.S. House—with a surtax on the very wealthiest households. Research by the National Education Association (NEA) shows a health care benefits tax could reduce benefits and wouldn’t result in gains for workers.
The Senate’s health care bill would set a tax on health plans worth more than $8,500 per year for individuals and $23,000 per year for families. For workers in high-risk occupations, for retirees 55 or older and for residents in the 17 highest-cost states, the bill would tax plans worth more than $9,850 for individuals and $26,000 for families.
The House bill offers a better solution for funding health care reform: with a modest tax on the very wealthiest, who benefited disproportionately from the Bush tax cuts and the unequal economy of recent years. Hitting middle-class families who are struggling in this economy is not the right answer.
The AFL-CIO is airing a TV ad in key states against a tax on middle-class health benefits and is running a print ad as well. You can download a fact sheet about why this tax is the wrong policy here.
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Incremental Change was not good enough almost 20 year ago when I wrote to the US House of Lords, Kennedy and Kassebaum, and was told by Mick Moran that my five basic pillars, er, principles were “too radical” and ny Dean Rosen, who would later go to work for a British Pharmaceutical Company, that the Senator said, “We have to do things incrementally”.
Here it is twenty years later, and I have gone far beyond just stating the basic principles.
Yet, all we get is BS out of DC. Of course, DC cannot do it by themselves. I believe that is the first thing we must recognize.
I have been trying to get my health plan clear and communicated to everyone, but that is a very difficult charge (even worse than Anthony Mason
) given a limited stage and the frustration of non-response to my efforts.
Oui? Si?
See? We? d
Kelp!
I need somebuddy
Kelp!
Everybuddy!
- with the greatest respect to John Lennon
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation. and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Peoples Equity Union
Eugene, OR
(541)343-3808
What happened to the pseudo “public option?” Whatr happened to Single Payer and the AFL-CIO? What became of the AFL-CIO leadership and our Dem friends we helped and funded to re-elect? Enough is Enough.
US Labor Party. Pick our spots, and let the Blue Chips ‘fall where they may. US Labor Party. US Labor Party. US Labor Party.
I heartily agree with you. A party that unites the interests of workers.
Union owned and operated insurance is the way to go. We could do it cheaper, more effectivly, and it would benefit both workers and businesses. It may even encourage businesses to be less hostile to new union shops because they could benefit also if their contributions to our health insurance were decreased. We would gain members and probably increase job opportunities because employers could afford to employ more workers. It might even cause insurance companies to change their rates and policies because they would lose so much money from the millions of union workers who left, that they would either become competitive with the union prices or they would dry up and die. So we need a nationwide, unionwide option for a union run and operated insurance company to benefit all!
Methinks thou doth protesteth to loudly.
Or, in plain everyday language, where was the AFL-CIO when it began retreating from day one? (Actually, that is a rhetorical question. The honchos were retreating!)
Now what?
The retreat began when, despite overwhelming support for single payer, the hierarchy signaled “it” was willing to accept less. What a blunder. It was a Negotiating 101 blunder…at best.
First there was a “robust” public option that no one could define. Then came a plain old public option. The next retreat was anything with the word “option” in its text.
Every retreat was followed by more back-stabbing drafts of health care “reform” legislation.
Methinks there is no fight in the leadership. Methinks business-unionism has replaced ethical union principles.
Now where do we go?
It is time for a real Labor Party, with real Labor Party candidates. We need a Labor Party headed by workers, not pie cards. We also need to support candidates who have the guts to challenge our one Party corporatist system. And God knows we need labor leaders, not labor yes-men!
The AFL-CIO has to stop pimping lousy legislation. No bill is better than a bad bill. What Congress is discussing is BAD! It time to toss all the sell-out legislation in the trash and start from scratch.
Single payer is the solution. Single payer will bring health care justice. If it takes sporadic work stoppages in key industries to win justice for everyone, let’s start now!
The Tax is not the bad part!!!!
Read This:
Judge David Kithil on Obamacare:
WOW!! Lets hear it for the Judge! The article is in the Marble Falls , Texas newspaper. It was written by our former county judge, David Kithil. He voiced his opposition to HB 3200, and gave EXACT SPECIFICS, to include page and paragraph in the bill on why this Health Bill is BAD.
I called Thomas Edwards, Editor of the River Cities Tribune, to get legal permission to quote David Kithil’s comments. He gave me that permission, so I can quote him. Here are excerpts from the article, giving EXACT pages and paragraphs in the bill and why it is so bad. You can forward this to all of your addressees. I think he hits everything right on the head and the opposition you may encounter cannot argue over these points:
JUDGE KITHIL: “I have reviewed selected sections of the bill and find it unbelievable that our Congress, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could come up with a bill loaded with so many wrong-headed elements. We do need to reform the health insurance system in America in order to make coverage affordable and available to everyone. But, how many of us believe our federal government can manage a new program any better than the bankrupt Medicare program or the underfunded Social Security program? Both Republicans and Democrats are equally responsible for the financial mess of those two programs.
I am opposed to HB 3200 for a number of reasons. To start with, it is estimated that a federal bureaucracy of more than 150,000 new employees will be required to administer HB3200. That is an unacceptable expansion of a government that is already too intrusive in our lives. If we are going to hire 150,000 new employees, let’s put them to work protecting our borders, fighting the massive drug problem and putting more law enforcement/firefighters out there.”
NOW, here comes the good stuff: “Other problems I have with this bill include:
Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.
Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual’s bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.
Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN).
Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)
Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors’ fees.
Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient’s age.
Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.
Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an “end-of-life planning” seminar every five years.
Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.”
HAD ENOUGH???? Judge Kithil then goes on: ” Finally, it is specifically stated this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick “fix” to make the plan financially sound for the future.”
Honorable David Kithil Marble Falls , Texas