Dean: Bush Tax Hike Won't Help Americans Afford Health Care

[MaineDem]

Washington, DC - In tonight's State of the Union address, President
Bush is expected to call for a health insurance tax hike on middle class
Americans - a proposal that shows he is not serious about fixing
America's broken health care system. In the same year the President will
submit a budget making his tax cuts permanent -tax cuts that went
overwhelmingly to the richest Americans- he is proposing to shift more
of the cost of health care onto working Americans. Additionally, the
President's proposal actually could impose a new tax on working
Americans if they already have a good health care plan, while doing
nothing to hold down skyrocketing health care costs.

Democrats support measures to help increase the number of people with
health insurance, not shifting the burden to hard working Americans
already struggling to make ends meet.

"This proposal shows that President Bush is not serious about fixing
the nation's health care system," said Democratic National Committee
Chairman Howard Dean. "The Bush Administration has ignored the problem
for six years, costs and the number of uninsured continue to skyrocket,
yet the President's solution is to raise taxes on working families? Like
so much of what the President proposes, this latest scheme fails to
address the problem and actually makes health care less affordable for
many Americans, while doing nothing to help insure those who can not
afford it. Democrats remain committed to finding solutions to these
challenges, not creating new ones."

Under President Bush's failed leadership, the nation's health insurance
crisis has worsened:

* While the United States continues to spend more than any other
country on health care, nearly 47 million Americans remain uninsured.
Since President Bush took office, the number of uninsured Americans has
grown by nearly 6 million.

* Health care costs are increasing faster than wages. Over three
million fewer workers received employer-based coverage in 2005 than in
2000 and the cost of a health premium for an average family is $11,480-
roughly equal to the salary of a full-time, minimum-wage worker.

* The United States spends more on health care per person than any
other country, including countries that provide health care coverage to
its entire citizenry. But the quality of our care continues to lag.

Americans Are Already Paying a Higher Share of Employer Provided Health
Coverage:

* On average, the amount workers pay toward premiums has risen 84%
since 2000, while wages are up 20% and inflation 18%.

* Employees' contribution to average annual premiums for family
coverage has escalated to $2,973, an increase of 80 percent since 2000,
when the employees' share was $1,656.

* Employees' contribution to the average annual premium for single
coverage has escalated to $627, an increase of 87 percent since 2000,
when the employees' share was $336.

The president's plan to expand health savings accounts (HSAs) will not
solve the problem.

* Health savings accounts disproportionately benefit the wealthiest
Americans, some of whom use them as tax shelters. The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) found "that the average income of HSA users
was $133,000 in 2004, compared to $51,000 for all non-elderly tax
filers." Most low-income individuals don't have a high enough tax
liability to see a significant benefit from tax deductions associated
with HSAs and multiple studies have shown that HSAs are actually likely
to increase the number of uninsured and increase health care costs.

###

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.

[Cobalt Violet]

1. He's so out of touch. Recommended.

This truely is the plan of a mad man.

[Vinca]

2. The "Bush Health Plan" is the screwiest idea I've ever heard.

He never got to the part about how it's supposed to provide health care. Is he going to dig deep and send us all checks for $15,000 to pay for our health insurance so we'll be able to take the deduction later? He seems to think we all have thousands of dollars in spare cash laying around and giving us a new tax deduction will induce us to spend it on health insurance. Unfreakingbelieveable.