CNN/AP: Bush urges tax code changes to address health care costs

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush urges tax code changes to address health care costs
January 20, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Saturday he will propose changes in the tax code next week that are designed to make health insurance more affordable.

The cost of health care is growing more than two times faster than wages, making it harder for families to buy insurance and for employers to sponsor a health benefit for their workers, Bush said.

The nation must address those rising costs without raising taxes or creating a new entitlement program, he said.

One way to tackle rising premiums is to treat health insurance more like owning a home, he said.

"The current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes," Bush said. "We can provide a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance."

The president did not provide details about exactly what tax changes he will seek. He said he would disclose more details during his State of the Union speech Tuesday....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/20/Bush.radio.ap/index.html

[antigop]

1. Please see similar thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3162518&mesg_id=3162518

[asjr]

2. Too little, too late, little man. No one believes

a word you say.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Republican solution to the healthcare crisis: get less of it, pay more for it.

Hey Dumbass! Go Fuck Your Self!

[sakabatou]

4. Is it just me or is this admin running things backward?

[Vinca]

5. Baloney - that won't work.

As 2 self-employed people, my husband and I can deduct it now. Unfortunately, we can't come up with the $12,000 a year up front to deduct later. (Then there's the small issue of the huge deductible and only paying 80% of the bill.) That's the problem for most people. A better step - if they refuse to do what they should and move to single payer - would be to regulate the damn insurance companies. Make it illegal for them to jack the rates up on older Americans or people with any sort of illness. As it stands now, the insurance companies only want the young and healthy and price the rest of us out of the market. It's the same crap they're pulling in hurricane-prone areas with house insurance. Meanwhile, the companies are raking in obscene profits and giving CEO retirement packages worthy of royalty.

[aquart]

7. Nothing from Bush is even worth discussing.

He operates from what seems to be an active hatred of the American people who don't bow down to him.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Insurance comanies NEED increases in their premiums

in order to afford the armies of people they hire to deny your claims.

[PSPS]

14. You're exactly right

Go back fifty years, and you'll see a completely different health-insurance industry. Back then, the idea was "pooled risk" with everyone in a class of age & coverage paid the same premium.

Today, that's gone in favor of "maximum profit." Insurance companies no longer pool the risk but, rather, assign it to their customers. In other words, they have successfully extricated themselves from the risk business entirely! That's quite a slight-of-hand for an insurance company.

[RC]

6. One of the purposes of government is to protect its citizens.

Therefore, health care is a national right. A healthy populous is a productive populous.
But why bother with a healthy populous when the government #2 job is to export jobs overseas. This government's #1 job is war.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Personally, I think our populace is too populous.

[rodeodance]

10. Bush to Propose Tax Change to Penalize High-Cost Health Plans (BLOOMBERG)

this was posted in Health forum:

Sat Jan-20-07 02:57 PM
Original message
Bush to Propose Tax Change to Penalize High-Cost Health Plans (BLOOMBERG)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ap3...

Bush to Propose Tax Change to Penalize High-Cost Health Plans

By Brendan Murray

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will propose next week changes to the U.S. tax system that would penalize individuals enrolled in expensive health-care plans and encourage the uninsured to buy low-cost coverage, a White House official said.

``The tax code unfairly penalizes people who do not get health insurance through their job,'' Bush said in his weekly radio broadcast. ``It unwisely encourages workers to choose overly expensive, gold-plated plans.''

Bush gave no details in the address, saying those would come Jan. 23 in his State of the Union speech. ``I will propose a tax reform designed to help make basic private health insurance more affordable -- whether you get it through your job or on your own,'' he said.

An administration official familiar with Bush's plan told reporters yesterday that the president will ask lawmakers to approve a fixed deduction from income and payroll taxes. The intent is to remove the incentive for excessive, often employer- paid plans and entice people with no insurance to find at least basic coverage.

Without specifying the threshold Bush will propose, the official said the new policy would allow workers who either get their health insurance through their employer or who aren't insured to deduct the amount from their tax liability. For those whose health benefit costs exceed the limit that Bush sets, it will amount to a tax increase -- or a disincentive to purchase expensive health policies. <snip>

COMPARE THE ABOVE TO CNN/AP HEADLINE THAT HIDES THE TAX INCREASE

[aquart]

13. Wait. He's penalizing the customer? The victim????

But not the insurance company?

So he's destroying the good coverage to allow companies to give shit insurance to their employees? Am I reading this right?

[progressivebydesign]

11. Tax deductions mean JACK SHIT when you can't afford to see a doctor.

Typical fucking rich person. THinks that the people who need help seeing a doctor and affording care will really benefit that much from a tax deduction. Dipshit.

[rodeodance]

12. yahoo article:

......The costs of the war and the deficit are expected to preclude Bush from announcing expensive new programs.

On the domestic side, the president will propose a tax deduction of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work.

If passed by Congress, the proposal would be the first time that workers could get a tax break if they bought their own insurance. But it also would be the first time that some employer-provided health care benefits could be taxed. The first $15,000 in health benefits for a family would continue to be tax exempt for the employee, but any amount in excess of $15,000 would be subject to tax.

Health care benefits provided by companies are currently exempt from personal income and payroll taxes, no matter the amount.

He also plans to highlight immigration and urge Congress to renew the No Child Left Behind education law, preserve tax cuts, balance the budget within five years and work to make the costs of the war more transparent in the federal budget. ........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_state_of_union

[WCGreen]

17. If you itemize, and already pay for your insurnace, it is

currently deductable...

[WCGreen]

18. The point is, even if this would be a valid method of providing

health coverage, which it isn't, the lower taxed people, one's who do not itmeize, would be precluded from taking the deduction...

And even if you could take a deduction, the result would only be a 15% reduction in your cost...

To me that would incentivize the insurance companies to raise their rates by at least 15%...

[BenDavid]

15. Well that was a taped

message on the day that HRC announced she was "IN" and "IN TO WIN". And as I have said many times in this forum that HRC will hit back hard on anyone or any organization that goes negative. I know we have some old folks in here that remembers the "WAR ROOM" the "Big Dawg" used. So, all I say is forward progress HRC and you can bet yo booty she will like a grizzley when it comes to getting her message out and combating all negatives....And one thing she will not be doing is wind surfing or giving any stupid ass comments like our last nominee had...Oh you saying to yourself that I am saying here and now she is the nominee without any votes cast. Well, she is the front runner and she will be seen more like the nominee in speech after speech and interview after interview....

[Fovea]

16. Real headline should be...

Bush puts fresh bandaid on US Health Care System's brain tumor.

[Generic Brad]

19. Let me guess how his plan would work

I suspect he will ask for additional tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% in the nation so that they will reduce the health care burden for the rest of us by having enough spare cash to voluntarily contribute to local hospitals out of the goodness of their hearts.

And as stupid as that idea is, it would not surprise me if they came up with something even more idiotic.