meme
New member
yea! (free) health care for ALL..
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year.
Faced with a $320 billion hole in his reform plan, Baucus revisited options that were considered in the past, but never emerged as top-tier options because he believed taxing employer-provided health benefits was the best way to provide that revenue.
The Senate Democratic leadership nixed the idea this week, saying the caucus could not support it because it would hurt the middle class. They asked Baucus, who was closing in on a deal, to go back to the negotiating table and find a more politically viable plan to pay for the $1 trillion reform bill.
Instead of relying on one major source of funding, the committee will have to piece together revenue from a variety of places. The list, as detailed to POLITICO by people familiar with the negotiations, shows senators could fill the $320 billion gap quickly if they were able to find consensus to:
— Broaden the 1.45-percent Medicare tax on earned income to “passive income,” which could include money from capital gains, rental properties and businesses that do not require direct participation. This could raise $100 billion.
— Levy a five-percent surtax on individuals who earn more than $500,000 and couples that make $1 million.
— Tax health benefits at a higher level than had been considered. Two scenarios are in play. Taxing plans worth more than $20,300 for a family and $8,300 for an individual could raise $240 billion. Increasing the cut-off to plans worth more than $25,000 would bring $90 billion.
— Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise $168 billion, while the second would collect $90 billion.
— Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising $75 billion.
— Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as $20 billion, and insurance providers, raising $75 billion.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24752.html#ixzz0KmklU6Qa&C
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year.
Faced with a $320 billion hole in his reform plan, Baucus revisited options that were considered in the past, but never emerged as top-tier options because he believed taxing employer-provided health benefits was the best way to provide that revenue.
The Senate Democratic leadership nixed the idea this week, saying the caucus could not support it because it would hurt the middle class. They asked Baucus, who was closing in on a deal, to go back to the negotiating table and find a more politically viable plan to pay for the $1 trillion reform bill.
Instead of relying on one major source of funding, the committee will have to piece together revenue from a variety of places. The list, as detailed to POLITICO by people familiar with the negotiations, shows senators could fill the $320 billion gap quickly if they were able to find consensus to:
— Broaden the 1.45-percent Medicare tax on earned income to “passive income,” which could include money from capital gains, rental properties and businesses that do not require direct participation. This could raise $100 billion.
— Levy a five-percent surtax on individuals who earn more than $500,000 and couples that make $1 million.
— Tax health benefits at a higher level than had been considered. Two scenarios are in play. Taxing plans worth more than $20,300 for a family and $8,300 for an individual could raise $240 billion. Increasing the cut-off to plans worth more than $25,000 would bring $90 billion.
— Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise $168 billion, while the second would collect $90 billion.
— Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising $75 billion.
— Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as $20 billion, and insurance providers, raising $75 billion.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24752.html#ixzz0KmklU6Qa&C
