So who pays the tax now on employee health insurance

[Toots]

Or is it now tax free and Bush* wants to create a tax. If there is tax now being paid by the employer then that tax burden is about to shift to the employee and the business owner gets another tax break while the employee has to pay more. I find that shocking that Bush* would favor the employer over the employee don't you?

[RB TexLa]

1. There is no tax on what your employer pays for you

It actually lowers their taxes because they count it as expense, which it is.

[valerief]

2. Bush, the War and Tax President. Now that's some legacy. nt

[woodsprite]

3. You forgot your 'sarcasm' smilie,

so here it is - :sarcasm: :evilgrin:

[wakeme2008]

4. Bingo we have a winner

or the employee will pick the very very very high deduct. plan so they do not have to pay much tax... And cost the CORPORATION next to nothing

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Well, we all pay that tax.

Any tax that is not collected automatically adds to the overall tax burden.

[havocmom]

6. There ya go- being all reasonable again

;)

"A tax that is not collected automatically adds to the overall tax burden" - keep that in mind, folks.

The loopholes and cuts the corporations and the very rich have received in recent years have added to the overall tax burden. The country is seriously in the red and something needs to be done about it. So, bush/cheney/neocons want the WORKING PEOPLE to pick up even more of the burden!

It is an added tax on working people so the wealthy can keep their tax cuts a little longer.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. I'm already disgusted by this plan, but last night I was skimming AM radio and...

...heard some asshole from some organization representing the insurance lobby that was talking with the right wing host about another "brilliant" idea for health insurance and cursing our state insurance commissioner for seeing through their rather transparent plan.

Their argument is that they think insurance should be much like car insurance where people at higher risk pay a much higher rate than those who...ahem...."take better care of themselves".

So essentially, instead of spreading the cost across the spectrum, they want to herd all the healthiest people into one plan and all the people who have chronic illnesses, histories of illness, and people who "choose to be unhealthy" :grr: into another plan in order to save money for the "poor struggling corporations trying to pay their share of health insurance".

What a fucking crock of maggot infested explosive diarrhea that was! I practically screamed at my radio.

So, your kid gets leukemia or you have a family history of cancer or diabetes or have diabetes or heart disease and their answer is to fucking punish you for having the audacity to get sick by sticking you into a high premium plan that likely has a huge deductible and co-pay? As if people in that position aren't already out there paying more in co-pays and deductibles than people that have less need of their insurance at the moment?

Why the fuck can't greedy fucking republicans think about ANYTHING except how to line their own pockets?

I fucking hate those blackhearted motherfuckers!

[Warren Stupidity]

8. Bush wants to punish the few remaining corporations

that provide decent healthcare for their employees by taxing them for doing the right thing. The bipartisan corporate greedhead coalition is preparing to roll out mandated romneycare as an endrun against actual single payer universal health insurance: medicare for everyone. Under romneycare you will be required to pay rent to Big Healthco to get shitty managed care for lots of money with bean counters deciding what your treatment plan ought to be for whatever it is that ails you.

Half of us here will get confused, will not analyze what is going on, will be very afraid that 'socialized medicine' means that Joe Stalin is going to eat their babies, and will go along with yet another corrupt scheme from The Kleptocracy.

[Igel]

9. Currently, nobody.

In fact, it's a handy dodge for employers to raise an employee's compensation more than they otherwise could. It's that's often been used in the last decade.

Pay $500 for an employee's insurance and give him $500 a year more in wages, and he pays taxes on that $500--either income taxes, payroll taxes, or both (and, if he pays payroll taxes, then so does the employer). Increase what's paid for his insurance from $500 to $1000, and the employer doesn't get taxed for that additional $500, *and* you pay no more in taxes. It's not just wages that count, but the benefits package as a whole.