Dear Editor,
The people were told by advocates of ACA that taxes would not be raised, that not one dime would be added to the debt, that we could keep our doctor, that we could keep our health care plan. As it now turns out the above is pure fiction (i.e. lies or misdirection to fool us?) The following are excerpts from Grace Marie Turner’s comments to Investor’s Business Daily: The President promised middle-income families they would not see their taxes go up “one single dime”. However, millions of these Americans are paying to finance the health care overhaul law through hidden taxes and fees. In total Ms. Turner reports that 21 taxes in ACA will extract $1 trillion over a decade. This sum is nearly double the $569 billion that Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation estimated at the time the law was passed in 2010.
First there is a new surtax on investment income (unearned income – that is: rents, cap gains, dividends – read: retired income). This is a 3,8% surtax on top of the current 20% (raised from 15%) on capital gains and dividends on households making $250,000 per year. Many people living in homes they have owned over decades could be subject to a cap gain greater the $250K. Also people in this income group will pay an additional .9% on Medicare tax (currently 1.45%). These two added taxes will cost taxpayers $317 billion over the decade.
Parents of special needs children face an added Obamacare tax. The law caps at $2,500 per year what can be put into a health savings account. An additional hit for every taxpayer is a new limit on what they can deduct for medical expenses – raised to 10% of adjusted gross income from 7.5%. This is an additional cost of $43 billion over the next decade. This is a double whammy when one considers the deductible of the new plan increased dramatically. Obamacare also imposes a new sales tax on health insurance companies adding more cost to premiums. This tax raises $8B in 2014 increasing to $14.3B in 2018. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this health insurance tax will exceed $100B over the next decade. What increases can a family expect in the individual market (?); -- $2,300 to $5,080 or an average of $3590 over 10 years.
There is also a “transitional reinsurance tax”. This is a $63 a year fee on every person with private health insurance (family of four equals $252) to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions. This assessment is to be levied for three years and is expect to raise $25B. Unions are particularly upset over this provision even though some but not all were given waivers.
There is also an early Obamacare tax hitting innovating drug companies, collecting $34B over ten years. This tax will pass through to consumers and will probably restrict research and development of new improved drugs. A tax on medical device manufacturers took effect last year. This is a tax on total revenue (not taxable income) which will siphon another $29B from creators of medical instruments, artificial joints and even routine medical devices; 2.3% doesn’t sound like much, but must be paid whether the company makes a profit or not.
The law calls for many more taxes and fees to finance the ACA. It will come as a shock to middle-income families that the majority of these taxes and fees hit them directly or indirectly through higher prices they will have to pay health insurance and medical care.
For those about to retire and those on Medicare the following will be shocking: Independent Payments Advisory Board (IPAB) – ever heard of it? This board will consist of 15 members not elected, but appointed by the President AND not confirmed by the Senate. Their job, according to Charles Kesler Professor of Government at Clairemont McKenna College, is to make recommendations to limit Medicare Reimbursements to doctors. Likely Clinics will be forced to not accept new Medicare Patients. IPAB’s proposals automatically become law overriding the Constitutional authority of Congress to do the same. What else is hidden in the 2,000 plus pages of the law and the 20,000 plus regulations written by HHS??? And you thought this was a free deal!
Regards,
John Stiegelmeyer --- Vinton
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Under previous and current law, changes to Medicare payment rates and program rules are recommended by MedPAC but require an act of Congress to take effect. The new system grants IPAB the authority to make changes to the Medicare program WITH CONGRESS BEING GIVEN THE POWER to overrule the agency\'s decisions through supermajority vote.
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IPAB is composed of fifteen members appointed by the President, SUBJECT TO SENATE CONFIRMATION. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration serve ex officio as nonvoting members. In making the appointments, the President consults with the Majority Leader of the Senate concerning the appointment of three members; the Speaker of the House of Representatives concerning the appointment of three members, the Minority Leader of the Senate concerning the appointment of three members, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives concerning the appointment of three members.
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With regard to IPAB\'s recommendations, the law says \"The proposal shall not include any recommendation to ration health care, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums under section 1818, 1818A, or 1839, increase Medicare beneficiary cost sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, and co-payments), or otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility criteria.\"[10] The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must implement these proposals unless Congress adopts equally effective alternatives. The board is also required to submit to Congress annual reports on health care costs, access, quality, and utilization. IPAB must submit to Congress recommendations on how to slow the growth in total private health care expenditures.