Congress: Health-care challenges
Posted: Friday, July 10, 2009 9:20 AM by Mark Murray
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Congress
“Conservative House Democrats are demanding significant changes before they can support a sweeping health care overhaul, forcing the House to join the Senate in delaying action on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority,” the AP says. “These include the need for more cost containment measures, protections for small businesses and a focus on rural health care.”
The Boston Globe: “A fear that employers will drop private coverage and dump their workers onto federally subsidized health plans is a major concern among lawmakers crafting healthcare legislation on Capitol Hill, leading House Democrats to propose stiff financial penalties for businesses that don’t contribute to employee premiums. But the experience with the healthcare overhaul in Massachusetts suggests those worries may be overblown.”
Video: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., discusses the speculation that Senate Democrats are abandoning their hopes of creating a bi-partisan health care bill.
The
New York Times: “House and Senate Democrats appeared on Thursday to be on a collision course over how to pay for a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system, with the House planning to propose an income tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, an idea that Senate negotiators have all but dismissed as unworkable.”
Politico's Brown and Rogers have the details on Max Baucus' new ideas to pay for health care. It won't be from one GIANT source, but from potentially a dozen different areas.
"— 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.
-- Raise taxes on sodas and sugary drinks. A 3-cent hike could pick up $30 billion, and a 10-cent hike could make $100 billion.
On Saturday, the AFL-CIO is going to hold a rally in Arkansas (home to Wal-Mart!) in its effort to promote the Employee Free Choice Act (a.k.a. “card check”).
Republican Darrell Issa thinks “lawmakers should be forced to take lie detector tests before receiving classified briefings.”
