News Release
« BackHealth Care Reform Update
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
The President began the resurrection of health care reform with a bipartisan summit on February 25. Democrats will likely use a process called reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes to pass a bill rather than the 60 Senate votes that an overhaul will likely fail to reach. The President and Congress have used reconciliation only 19 times since 1974, with 11 being for health care measures. Under the reconciliation rules, the Senate must pass a bill by early April. House Democrats continue to seek the 217 votes required for passage.
The President also has released his own proposal, which keeps the 40 percent excise tax on high-cost plans but increases the threshold from $23,000 to $27,500 per annual plan and delays the start of the tax until 2018. In addition, to help pay for health care, President Obama would raise by 0.9 percent the portion of the Medicare payroll tax paid by employees earning more than $200,000 per year ($250,000/household), to 2.35 percent. However, the measure would exempt "active" shareholders in an S Corporation from paying the higher tax; therefore, they would not see a change from the current rate. The payroll tax increase would instead apply only “passive” investment income associated with an S Corporation, such as dividends and interest from stock and bond holdings, as well as the income of non-active shareholders.
One Voice believes affordable health care reform should include the following actions and urges Congress to include these items in any health care legislation:
• New opportunities for small businesses to pool together and purchase insurance across state lines
• Meaningful liability reform
• No prohibitions on HSAs, FSAs and HRAs that limit employer and employee flexibility and choice
• No increases in Medicare payroll taxes
• Balanced and responsible insurance market reforms
• Streamlined benefit packages
• Tax equity for our nation’s self-employed.
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