By: Human Events
7/14/2012 08:40 AM
If you have yet to make up your mind about the Affordable Care Act, this list might help you decide.
1. Individual mandate
Obamacare may have been upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court, but Chief Justice John Roberts’ extraordinary opinion clearly labeled the law’s individual mandate a tax. Whether the power to enact a penalty for failing to purchase a product derives from the Commerce Clause or Congress’ taxing authority makes little difference. Every American will have to purchase health insurance and those who don’t will face an IRS-enforced tax that totals 2.5 percent of adjusted growth income in 2016.
2. Employer mandate
At a time when America needs jobs more than anything else, along comes Obamacare and its tax on businesses that don’t offer healthcare benefits. Companies with more than 50 employees will have to pay a tax of $3,000 per employee, a sure-fire way to keep companies from hiring new workers. Perversely, this measure will also encourage some employers to drop their health coverage and pay a fine that costs less. In both cases, the measure works against many vulnerable Americans.
3. Investment income surtax
If you make more than $200,000 ($250,000 if married), then you are rich and will be paying for the healthcare of the less fortunate. Obamacare will levy a new 3.8 percent surtax on investment income on those earners. If the Bush tax cuts are not rescinded, another added tax will be added to the same people on the same income and the top rate on dividend income from will hit 43.4 percent— a good reason to invest elsewhere.
4. Limit raised on medical tax deductions
Currently people who have high medical expenses can get a tax break on the amount over 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income when they itemize deductions. Obamacare will raise the threshold to 10 percent, socking those with medical emergencies with an extra cost just when they are least prepared to handle it.
5. Tax on charitable hospitals
Obamacare levies a $50,000 excise tax on charitable hospitals that fail to meet an array of Health and Human Services regulations, including new standards in assessing community health needs and financial assistance requirements. In what universe does this make sense? Here we have the federal government heaping new rules under threat of financial penalty onto entities that function to help others.
6. Capping Flexible Spending Accounts
By capping the amount of money that can be used in a flexible spending account, Obamacare essentially levies a tax on families with ‘special -needs children.’ The new annual cap of $2,500 doesn’t come close to cover the amount that it costs for families to care and educate society’s most vulnerable members. Oh, but at least the measure will send an addition $13 billion to Washington.
7. Tax on Cadillac plans
In Obamaland, one size fits all when it comes to healthcare. Under Obamacare, people who have “Cadillac” health plans will be hit with a new excise tax. People paying $10,200 ($27,500 for families) a year in insurance premiums will get hit with a 40 percent tax hike, which will, over time, will reduce the number of top-end plans. But at least Uncle Sam will get another $32 billion in revenue.
8. Medical device tax
Obamacare adds a 2.3 percent excise tax on manufacturers of medical-devices. One doesn’t need to be an economist to figure out the outcome of this measure: Companies will either stop hiring or will pass on the cost of the life-saving products on to consumers—adding to the burden of those already saddled with high medical costs.
9. Medicare payroll tax
The “rich” will get hit with yet another tax hike—a Medicare payroll tax increase of 0.9 percent of income above $200,000 ($250,000 if married). Even Nancy Pelosi has called out President Obama on taxing those income levels repeatedly, saying that the threshold should be $1 million in income before taxes on the super-rich kick in.
10. Over-the-counter tax
Obamacare will no longer allow money from health savings or flexible spending accounts to purchase non-prescription, over-the counter drugs—a $5 billion tax on people trying to treat their own medical problems. That is just a prescription to steer people to the doctor’s office instead of the pharmacy counter.
______________________________________________
To read another Human Events Top Ten List, click here.
______________________________________________
To read another article about Obamacare, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment