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Tax on Health Care Will Erode Coverage for Middle Class |
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A new year brings with it lots of hope.
Let’s hope 2010 brings a health care reform bill that does not penalize working families with a tax on their coverage. Because right now, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert aptly describes it, there is a ”middle-class tax time bomb ticking in the Senate’s version” of the health care reform legislation.
The bill that passed the Senate with such fanfare on Christmas Eve would impose a confiscatory 40 percent excise tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, which are popularly viewed as over-the-top plans held only by the very wealthy. In fact, it’s a tax that in a few years will hammer millions of middle-class policyholders, forcing them to scale back their access to medical care.
Jon Walker at Firedoglake took a look at a report released in December by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which found the health care tax “will result in most people getting worse health insurance from their employer, insurance that covers less.” Walker translates the report’s conclusions this way:
Your employer will reduce what your current insurance plan [covers] and put in place high co-pays and deductibles. The result is that many people with employer-provided health insurance will see their insurance get much worse. For younger, healthier employees, possibly getting less comprehensive insurance but maybe higher wages (I think it is very doubtful that there is a pure dollar for dollar passthrough), this might be a decent deal. For older, less healthy employees this is a very bad deal. They will be forced to pay much more out-of-pocket for their health care.
More cost, less coverage for working families. Yet portraying the tax as only affecting ”Cadillac plans,” purposely obscures how it will harm America’s working families.
Or, as Herbert puts it:
The tax on health benefits is being sold to the public dishonestly as something that will affect only the rich….
24 Comments
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This health care bill is a fraud . Write your reps and tell them to fix it or kill it.we do not need a smoke and mirrors bill that does more harm than good.
Yes, the current legislation has been a ruse from day one, imo an attempt to keep the public happy and far away from the single-payer, Medicare for All solution to our health care problem.
What PR firm or group conjured up the term “public option”?
Had our civil servants taken the correct path, we would be talking about an increase in the Medicare tax to cover all of us from birth to death.
Instead we will now have to fight to keep the insurance industry from not only escalating the cost of our premiums, but now the government trying to tax the escalation so they can pay for the mandate that everyone MUST be insured.
And btw, health insurance does not necessarily deliver health care.
Sea Star RN
We need a final health care bill that provides a robust public insurance choice for the American people and it should be funded by restoring 1990’s tax levels on America’s richest; those who prospered during the 8 wasted years of Cheney/bush. It’s what’s needed to provide affordable health care for all and to take a step at restoring America’s middle class.
This is pure speculation at this point. Please describe what a Cadillac plan is before going off on how it will hurt the middle class. You write an article about it’s effect but what exactly is it? I bet most middle class Americans will never see a Cadillac Plan. I think you are simply trying to stir up emotions and worry a lot of people. How does anyone know what plans will be available years from now, and how can you guess what employers will buy? This article has no substance. I want facts!
well duh! the afl-cio was backing health care for all but now look where they stand. what the #### is wrong with this idiots we pay these dues to….can’t seem to get in the right bed with the politions we helped to get elected. what a discrace… come this far just to say KILL BILL! well on to the big issue and put this mess behind us…GET on the bus gus and push for jobs creation…got to eat need a job can’t pay for insurance without a job.JOBS JOBS JOBS
i posted a few months ago that the afl-cio should not have backed obama. someone in the afl-cio has to be held responsible
@bobb - Are you an AFL-CIO member? If you were, and you paid attention, you would see how silly your assertion is regarding the “backing” of Obama.
We would be staring at one of the most anti-Labor presidents in decades, for starters the Dept. of Labor would be further withered and the NLRB would become more useless than it already has become. Currently, there is hope for those departments.
You can’t clean up the worst mess in our country in 75 years (thanks to Reagan, Clinton[NAFTA] and a couple Bushes) in one year! President Obama was handed a big crap sandwich. And any and all attempts to accomplish anything to help America’s workforce is met with nearly unanimous partisan opposition.
So while I’m sure Rich, Liz, and Arlene would have no trouble taking responsibility, I will take responsibility for completely supporting the election of President Obama here and now and challenge the rest of union members in this country to do the same thing!
Its time to get off the sidelines and get in the game. When President Obama was campaigning he stated “unions aren’t the problem. Unions are the solution!” Lets make him right! It starts at home!
Vince, I take full responsibility for supporting the election of President Obama.
So What’s your solution bobb? We win an election against a candidate who was openly hostile to unions and you criticize the choice. You’re right about one thing. Someone should be held responsible. You’re responsdible for this mess. That’s right, you and the other constant critics of the labor movement who never offer anything constructive are responsible for many of our problems. You need to get involved with some constructive ideas
Surprise, surprise. What the hell does anyone expect what with the twin parties of the insurance industry doing the bargaining so as to make health care less expensive for the bosses and make more money for the insurance and health “care” industry.
How many times does the American worker need to be screwed before there is a break from the twin parties of greed and war and the launching of a party dedicated to the needs and future of workers and all the oppressed? Not under the present leadership of the AFL-CIO that is for sure. Still it is incumbent upon the membership to take responsibility for their future because if they don’t more of the same screwing will continue.
Absolutely right. The AFL-CIO’s time for the Dems to “put up or shut up,” is history. The two party system is “bought and paid for,” by the corporate interests. It’s time for US Labor to do what England and Australia did over 100 years ago. And that is to organize and fund a bonafide US Labor Party. The begging time is over, there has been no compromise only capitulation to $$$. It’s time for Labor to STAND UP for the RANK and FILE.
Yes, this terrible tax on health plans will hurt workers’ health plans and reduce care. This current health reform plan will make it even harder for unions to negotiate health care.
It’s time for the AFL-CIO to lead the social movement for improved Medicare for All, national single payer health care.
The Maine AFL-CIO has called on the “National AFL-CIO to convene … a democratic strategic planning process to develop a long term strategy to win Single Payer national health insurance.”
The Maine AFL-CIO states that the AFL-CIO should start with a Single Payer labor movement summit, involve CLCs, State Feds, and the rank and file, and commit the resources to build this movement.
It’s a good idea! Your union can pass a similar resolution and join the struggle. See the full text here:
http://unionsforsinglepayer.org/news_releases/2009-12-10
Kay Tillow
nursenpo@aol.com
unionsforsinglepayer.org
Most of us union workers have made major concessions over the years just to keep our health care—”maintenance of benefits” sound familiar? And yet here we are,trying desperately to take health care off the bargaining table to save our wages and retirements, and now we are threatened with a tax on our bennies? Really?
That would amount to a cut in pay for me—I already pay about a third of my income in taxes. I’m a single, not a homeowner, and I live paycheck to paycheck as it is. When I had chest pains, and was directed to the emergency room, I paid the $100 co-pay—before I was discharged. (My HMO wheels the patient right to the cashier if they’re not admitted.) Where,then, would this tax be levied? On the co-pay? On the employer contribution? On plan usage? I’m a breast cancer survivor left with chronic health conditions; I’m grateful to be alive—but at what cost?
My Canadian friends don’t understand why it’s so expensive to become ill in the USA. I understand that as long as someone is making money—witness the amount of money insurance carriers and pharmaceutical companies spend on advertising alone—those are the special interests that our legislators pay attention to. We can get out the vote, but they(drug companies and insurers) can finance campaigns and are substantially able to outspend unions. Working families need real help now!
I read the various comments about the Health Care reform legislation and I wonder where some of these people have been the last twenty plus years. It seems like everyone wants to blame someone else for the problem and the poor solution proposed. I think the question is why we haven’t done more and could we have done something differently in the past and the future to get a different result?
Vince Beltrami on 05.01.2010 at 13:40 (Reply)
@bobb - Are you an AFL-CIO member? If you were, and you paid attention, you would see how silly your assertion is regarding the “backing” of Obama. ///////////// vince, obama knew what he was getting into. obama also stated in his campaign that he had a plan-he lied as usual. obama used the unions to get there votes
@bobb - you say President Obama stated he had a plan and that he lied as usual. Care to be more specific? The president’s plans have been thwarted by obstructionist republicans and blue-dog cowards at every turn. Stating anti-Obama generalist sentiments without specifics makes you sound like nothing more than a sheep of the tea-baggers.
Again, bobb, I challenge you to make a difference instead of throwing lame bombs from the sideline.
Do you show up to rallies when your union calls? Do you volunteer on behalf of your union in the community? Do you proudly wear your union colors? Do you answer the call to man the phones or help out on neighborhood walks for candidates who support workers issues? Are you indeed part of the solution? Because if you are not, then you are part of the problem with today’s labor movement. Challenge yourself. Challenge your fellow members. Make a difference, or shut the hell up!
Richie the mailman is right. Democrat or Republican it does not matter. Both are reponsible for allowing corporate Amerika to gut our Country. Only a bonifide labor/workers party has chance for real change.
Marko
WAKE-UP CALL !!!
Small businesses with fewer than 50 workers will not be penalized if they opt not to provide insurance.
“Fewer than 50 workers” pretty much covers all those who want insurance and don’t presently have it — individual McDonalds, Burger Kings, etc. workers; restaurant, small grocery & retail store workers; individual hotel chain workers; bank workers, several medical offices and so many more — making this so-called healthcare reform virtually useless in its intent and nothing more than a tax to feed the insurance industry.
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Health-care details have lawmakers crying foul
By Robert Pear
The New York Times
Posted: 01/04/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
WASHINGTON — Early versions of the Senate’s far-reaching health care bill said small businesses with fewer than 50 workers would not be penalized if they opted not to provide insurance. That was before labor unions in the construction industry went to work and persuaded Senate leaders to insert five paragraphs.
Their provision, added to the 2,074-page bill at the last minute, singles out the construction industry for special treatment in a way that benefits union members and contractors who use union labor.
In this one industry, the exemption from the penalty would be much more limited, available only to employers with fewer than five employees. Construction companies with five or more workers would generally have to provide health insurance or pay a penalty — an excise tax of $750 per employee.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked: “Why this assault on the homebuilders? I don’t get it.”
Labor unions that have negotiated health benefits for construction workers lobbied for the provision. Without it, they said, small nonunion employers would have an unfair competitive advantage over companies that they say do “the right thing” by providing health benefits to plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers and other workers in the building trades.
The provision was one of many added to the bill as senators rushed to finish the legislation by Christmas Eve. It illustrates the difficulty of establishing uniform national requirements in a country where employers have, over decades, devised myriad arrangements for providing health insurance.
The construction-industry provision is receiving a second look as work begins in earnest this week to resolve differences in bills passed by the Senate and the House to remake the health care system. Other provisions sure to be scrutinized include a tax break for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan in Nebraska; Medicare coverage for residents of Libby, Mont., sickened by a mineral mine; extra Medicaid money for Massachusetts, Nebraska and Vermont; and a special dispensation for a handful of doctor- owned hospitals.
White House officials have generally acquiesced in what they see as a normal part of the legislative process, required to secure votes for a bill with no Republican support.
Republicans complained of “sweetheart deals,” payoffs and kickbacks. But the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., brushed aside the criticism.
“There’s a hundred senators here, and I don’t know if there is a senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that was important to them,” Reid said. “If they don’t have something in it important to them, then it doesn’t speak well of them. That’s what this legislation is all about. It’s the art of compromise.”
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Denver Post
Yes, and the UNION put these folks in office that are now turning their backs on us. Now we must repay them by voting every one of those idiots out of office when their terms end.
This is why I do not support partisan politics. Lets use our brains and elect the best man or women for the job. Not the one that claims they will fight for us. Yeah, that worked well, NOT!
Virtually all unions have a stated position in favor of ” universal, single-payer heath coverage” , which, if it means anything, must mean NATIONAL HEALTH CARE FREE FOR ALL. Also, virtually all unions supported Democratic Party candidates in the last election, as usual. The first thing the “progressive caucus” in the House did was announce their support for free universal health care, and then explain why they were abandoning that position before it could even enter into the debate. The reason no real solutions to our endless cycle of wars and depressions and steady decline in jobs, income and benefits can ever even be discussed is because these so-called ‘progressive democrats’ (oxymoron) lead the way in censuring the debate by claiming support while abandoning the idea upfront as hopelessly utopian. What is hopelessly utopian is expecting anything progressive from either Democrat or Republican politicians, the paid whores of the ruling class. We know the “progressives” are bought off - but what of the AFL-CIO beaurocracy? — Are they stupid, or just liars? (Hint - liars)
Everyone should point out that the “Cadillac” coverage is what we used to call “Health Insurance”! These scumbag Senators have no connection to our real world amd only care about serving their campaign contributors. We need to end the philibuster! We need full public funded political campaigns so the stupid bastards might have enough time to actually study the issues and how they actually affect our families instead of sitting in a room sucking up to rich people!
How many people do you suppose belong to the AFL-CIO and why is there not group a health plan for all of us?What was wasted on the last election would have gone a long way to helping every member.I think we have the numbers to become our own insurer.
I am a retired police office from new york state. Our union gave up pay raises and benifits for better health care covereage for its active and retired members. In new york retired police have no say in the union contracts so their is case law which says the benifits you retire with cannot be taken away. I have traditional coverage for my wife and I. No dental or opicial coverage. I DO NOT drive a Cadillac yet I have been told I fall under the 40% TAX. When I called Sen Glildabran office I was told basicly “some have to give up things so others will get things”. This is the old management tatic. If you don’t give up something Joe overthere is going to be layed off.
What can we do now? Our government isn’t listing to us and I’m beginning to feel constantly under attack by it; my wages, my job, my health, my property. Everything that I have striven to achieve, a modicum of working middle class security, and the means to achieve and maintain it are are being systematical taken away. Non of this is haphazard; clearly the government spends a great deal of time and money (mine) assembling the mechanisms that seem aimed at dismantling the working middle class and removing the means to rise to it from lesser circumstances. It sometime seems that the purpose of every session our lawmakers convene in Washington is to formulate more complex methods of attacking the working citizenry of America.
Recently, my union brothers, and sisters, and I have already had to accept an increase in the number of hours worked in order to receive any coverage even after repeatedly giving up wage increases in compromise for solid health care. The implications the excise tax has for our next contract negotiation really is frightening.