Thats the worst part of it, hes just subsidizing it a little when it cost upward of 7k per person and thats just the premium. Extraordinary coverage would cost you more. i have studied McCains plan well. As I said the other day Obama is just as wrong for suggestion he would be open to taxing benefits. Neither had a great solution, McCains was worst, imo. How is a tax credit good for a person who couldnt afford it to begin with. Screw them, just not you?
Another thing to consider; If HC benefits are taxed, a lot of young, healthy workers are going to opt out of coverage. This in turn will drive costs/premiums up for the rest of the insured.
i dodnt see why that is relevant. it is either true that obama is a big spender, or it isnt. 1. no he isnt 2. it really wouldn't matter if he did 3. people who hate america are idiots if you mean he will make terrorists not want to attack, you are wrong. and everyone else dosent matter. it is not relevant if socialist french college students think the US is ornery. we dont need a president to say sweet little compliments to everyone so their feelings are not hurt. the idea that we have "lost respect around the world" is stupid, and even if we had, it might be a good thing. really it is just another thing that people say that has no real meaning or relevance. correct, you are a genius.
I agree, because I would myself. But this was originated in McCains plan, something you havent acknowledged, Obama recently he said he was open to this , which is wrong, but he had to back down. I'll wait on that acknowledgement.
You may have studied the plan, but you show a poor understanding of taxes. Say premiums are the $7,000 dollars you quoted. Would you rather pay taxes on 7,000 and get a $5,000 dollar tax break or get a tax break on $7,000. I'll show you the math using a insanely high made up tax rate of 50%. Taxable Insurance Bennefit of $7,000 Tax rate of 50% $(3,500) Tax credit of $5,000 Net Savings for American $1,500 Extraordinary coverage already costs you more. In our current system competetiveness is hindered. Under McCain's plan consumer's would have more choice. If I took my employer coverage in the example above I would have $1500 dollars to go into the market to get supplemental insurance, or I could pass on my employer coverage and take $5,000 to the market with me. Either way I win. He is more wrong. He wants to tax the benefit and not give us anything to compensate for the new tax. Are you serious? Do you know what a tax credit is? It is a dollar for dollar lessening of your tax liability. A refundable tax credit, like the one McCain proposed is money that either reduces your tax liability or increases the amount refundable to you. I am assuming the dude who can't afford insurance has little or no tax liability as it is. He would probably tax the entire $5,000 dollar credit. He can now afford at least some basic health insurance for himself and his family. See everybody wins.
Yeah but on the flip side all the young people flooding the market with $5,000 in hand would drive premiums down. Also they would be able to cross state lines to find even cheaper premiums. Older employers can also opt out of employer plans and go to the market for cheaper premiums. Again under McCain's plan everyone is better off.
In theory you are right. However, I believe most of them would just opt to go w/o health insurance and spend the $5k on other stuff.
I understand the tax structure just fine, I didnt include that in my previous post. Still doesnt make sense to tax health benefits up front and then give a tax credit. Heres what you fail to realize. His plan would have killed employer-provided care, with the increase in taxes on employees. The average cost of healthcare for a family is 12k, the employer pays about 8k, employee pays the remaining. If the employer drops the coverage the family has to pay 12k out of pocket for coverage, so thats in increase of 8k over the employee portion. Ofset by a 5000 tax credit, so the net would be 3325 more for the care. There is no reason to tax healthcare benefits, if so the tax credit has to be higher or match the cost. You still would have to buy supplemental insurance in alot of cases.
I guess stupid people would do that, but I think most Americans are pretty bright, or are at least smart enough to know they need health insurance.
Today it might cost $7K per unhealthy person, I got quoted around 4500. You aren't taking into account the reduction in costs provided by the interstate competition. Isn't that the quintessential campaign promise of BHO?
