Some ObamaCare Taxes for You!!

Since its inception, ObamaCare has been advertised as saving Americans money while costing the taxpayer nothing. To be honest that sounds great but how can it be? Well, to put it honestly it can’t. The President and Democrat leaders in Congress sold this to the American Public with the claim that there would be no rise in taxes but that simply is a play on words.

While it might not be paid for simply by raising income taxes, the Congressional Budget Office has made it clear that there are at least 22 new or increased taxes that will affect us all. Here is a list of five new or expanded taxes for you to consider. By the way, according to the CBO, these five taxes alone will cost the American Public a minimum of $257 billion in the next decade.

1.       ObamaCare creates a new 2.3% tax on the gross sales of all medical equipment. And that means everything from pacemakers to prosthetics to Band-Aids to medicine to operating tables to bedpans to those little bowls they put under your chin to throw-up in – EVERYTHING! Guess who will be picking up the tab for those taxes? Each and every one of us will pay for those taxes through higher prices for each of these items. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $20 billion.

2.       Currently, out-of-pocket medical expenses can be deducted from your income tax once they reach 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Under ObamaCare they cannot be deducted until they reach 10% of your gross adjusted income. By the way, this mainly affects senior citizens. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $15 billion.

3.       Flexible Spending Accounts or FSA’s have always been a great way for people to save and build money to pay for everything from braces to surgery to special-needs tuition. Currently, money put into an FSA is tax-free as an incentive for people to save and use this sort of fund. Under ObamaCare only the first $2,500 would be tax-free. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $13 billion.

4.       Under ObamaCare, Capital Gains Tax Rates for ALL AMERICANS will rise from 15% to 20% in 2013 (conveniently after the election), while dividend tax rates will go up from 15% to 39.6%. Also under the ObamaCare Surtax the top Capital Gains Rates will go to 23.8% and the top Dividend Rate will go to 43.4%. This will affect anyone with investments, retirement accounts, and any other type of nest egg. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $123 billion.

5.       Lastly, the new ObamaCare Medicaid payroll Tax. This will affect everyone earning an income and conveniently takes affect only after the 2012 election. Minimum Total Cost to the Taxpayer – $86 billion.

 So there you go, put into simple terms these are only five of the new or expanded taxes that ObamaCare will unleash on the American Taxpayers. So next time you here the President or any of his Liberal surrogates say that ObamaCare will save the taxpayer money just take a look at these five items.

The Good, the Bad, and the ObamaCare!

Much has been written over the last few years about ObamaCare so it would stand to reason that more people would know more about the law. But then again much has been written and said about last Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare so it would stand to reason that there would be more Court Scholars there are out there by now. But in reality there are good parts, there are bad parts, and then there is the fact that no comprehensive bill will ever work – ObamaCare is no exception.

Both sides of the political aisle have their opinions on the subject and most people are only too happy to give their opinion. Having been in the Navy, on my own as an independent contractor and covered under my wife’s healthcare plan; I can honestly look at all the different methods of coverage and I have a fairly good idea of how they all work – Not well. But for the purposes of this blog entry, me the Republican, took a look at the law without the bloated partisan talking points and just looked at the facts from the website recommended by one of my Democrat friends.

So the good, everyone likes to start with the good. Most people will agree that many of these items are good and have needed to be handled many years ago.

1.       Keeping kids on parents insurance until they are 26.

2.       No denials of insurance based on pre-existing conditions.

3.       Better approval policies for the FDA of generic drugs.

4.       Prevention screenings that do not count against your deductable (some with a small or no co-pay).

5.       The eventual elimination of yearly and/or lifetime spending limits.

These are some good things that have needed to be done for a while and there are more; however, there are some that are not productive and will have a detrimental effect on the economy and people’s welfare.

1.       Insurance companies can’t refuse to cover children. This sounds like a great idea and it is; however, the law allowed companies to drop their independent children’s coverage by a certain date in 2011. Most of them did leaving independent children’s coverage to the government thereby limiting most families choices to Medicaid or out-of-pocket (this one I know from personal experience).

2.       Businesses with more than 50 employees will be required to offer employer sponsored health-insurance (government approved of course). How many small businesses will stifle expansion in the face of this mandate?

3.        Places a limit of $2,500.00 on tax free spending for a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). More people will be less likely to have an FSA as this has long been a benefit in that a person would be more interested in investing in an FSA due to its tax-free status.

4.       New taxes on Pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment to help pay for ObamaCare. Who actually pays those taxes, the company or the end-user?

5.       A new tax on healthcare companies based on market share. Making health care companies less likely to expand services for fear of increasing their tax load.

6.       A new tax of so-called “Cadillac” health plans. These are the very same plans John McCain proposed taxing during the 2008 election. The same tax that then candidate Obama said was going to wreak havoc on the middle-class and would cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. Of Course during the election Obama said it was a bad idea because it would affect the middle-class worker (aka Union Worker), and now he claims it only affects the “Fat-Cats”.

MISSING IN ACTION – and lastly, one thing that needed to be in the bill but wasn’t, Tort Reform. Talk to ANY doctor and they will explain it that clearly their biggest concern outside of the actual patient’s health is the fear of an unwarranted malpractice suit.

So there you have it, a short list of the good and the bad, both are abridged for this blog so don’t think this is a complete list or argument against ObamaCare. No doubt about it, Health Care Reform in this country is needed, but it must be done in steps that work for the greater good and not one giant comprehensive bill. There are good parts to ObamaCare and not so good. Yes nothing is perfect, but we should strive for something that is of benefit to the most people possible and one giant cookie cutter approach will NEVER work for the entire country.

Each of these items could be passed independently of each other but aligned to work in conjunction with each other. Using this approach compromises would be easier to come by, decisions would be much effortless to make, and the conclusions would provide for better feedback and be less stressful to correct. A single item can be corrected easy in government, but correcting a comprehensive bill is difficult at best as every item in some way affects another.

In short, there is a need to come together and create legislation that provides solid solutions consisting of insurance renovation, Medicaid/Medicare renovation, improved cost control systems, and Tort Reform. But like everything else with the present state of politics, the art of compromise and good governing has been lost on most of the current slate of elected officials on both sides of the political spectrum. Healthcare is a serious issue in the United States and desperately needs to be fixed, but ObamaCare is not that fix and regardless of what is written, there is still much to be done.

I need an aspirin now!

Bill

HealthCare, Are You Sure?

With President Obama calling for congress to give him a health care plan by July 31st, I think it is important to take a look at how some of the other public benefit programs are going.

Social Security will begin to have benefits exceed incoming taxes by 2016 and will be completely bankrupt by 2037, just in time for my retirement – Yipeeee!!!

Medicare began to have benefits exceed incoming taxes April 26, 2009 (remember that date from an earlier blog). That’s right, at this moment in time; Medicare is now working in a negative income mode, rather like the rest of the government…well except for social security, that still has a few years.

The topper is this, with events in government spending continuing on as the present administration has set out, Medicare will be completely broke by 2017. That’s it, ka-pooey, nothing left, empty, nada, rather like a bowl of ice cream after a Baptist social.

Look, I know many out there think the government is the harbinger of good hope for the health care issue in America, but it is not. To be honest, most of those hired to manage government-run agencies couldn’t manage a small ant farm. If they could, they’d be in the private sector having their pay capped by…well, that’s a different blog.

Anyway, for all those who think that government control of the health care system is the answer, let’s see if the government can first answer the question of how to fix social security and Medicare.

I think I need a new prescription,
Bill