Very good article about Numbnut's Health proposal

[SoCalDem]

Lots of links too.


http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=42553


an exerpt


"This group of Americans cannot afford insurance premiums -- whether or not they receive a tax refund the following year." Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said the proposal is "like throwing a 10-foot rope to someone in a 40-foot hole" (Lipman, Cox/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1/28).

snip..

Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center -- a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution -- said Bush also should eliminate the current tax benefit for HSAs. He said the benefit is a boon for wealthy individuals who can afford to pay out of pocket for health services under high-deductible plans while also putting large amounts of money in HSAs tax-free. "If the goal is to try to get people to spend less on health care, why subsidize high-deductible health plans over aggressively managed care?" Burman said. In addition, eliminating the existing tax benefits for HSAs would create new revenue that could be used toward Bush's state grant proposal, according to Burman (Lee, Washington Post, 1/27).

[terip64]

1. kick

[salin]

2. weekend marketplace (NPR) blasted that plan as well

added problem that it wouldn't address the needs of those currently not insured (for the reason cited above) but that in addition some "healthy" employees might opt out of the company plan to seek lower cost (high premium) insurance (to keep more of that tax break) - making employer plans even more expensive for the employers as the older and less healthy (higher cost) employees would still be covered but not the more healthy - making more employers likely to drop the benefit all together because their costs would even further escalate.

[SoCalDem]

3. Of course employers will drop coverage.. and I'm betting they will

not give what they have been paying..to the employees..