What will it be?  A federal soda pop tax? Taxing some health insurance benefits?  Higher fees on beer, wine and hard liquor?  These are just some of the options being tossed around in the Senate.

How do we pay for expanding coverage to over 40 million uninsured people?  The Senate Finance Committee recently released 40 pages of revenue raising options.  They include cuts to providers and new taxes.   

The Finance Committee report says, "Many proposals expected to reduce health spending in the long run may not produce sufficient savings in the short run to finance reform.  Other proposals to generate revenue for health care reform could include taxes that affect lifestyle choices and taxes that generally target loopholes.

Let's look at what congress is thinking:

• Soda pop tax would apply to drinks sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or other high-calorie sweeteners. That includes iced tea and noncarbonated drinks such as punch. But diet drinks would escape the tax man. Can you believe this?
• The tax increase on alcoholic drinks would hit beer and wine the hardest. Per ounce of alcohol, hard liquor already faces the highest federal tax rate. The Senate option would raise the current tax rate, and then apply the same rate to all types of alcoholic drinks.
• Health insurance provided by employers isn't taxed RIGHT NOW! Senators are considering several options, including taxing health insurance benefits for individuals making more than $200,000 a year or $400,000 for a couple.
• Potential revenue raisers include doing away with flexible spending accounts, limiting the income tax deduction for out-of-pocket medical costs, and charging upper income seniors more for their Medicare drug plans.

Are you scared yet?  Are you talking to your federal legislators yet?  We better be paying attention.  NOTHING is more important than our families and their health! 

One Response to “Congressional Leaders Discussing Ways to Pay for Health Care”

1. KCA Says:
   June 2nd, 2009 at 2:36 pm

   If the federal government were not in the health care business, then it wouldn’t have to find a way to finance another entitlement it can’t afford.

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