We may know by the end of the week how the Democrats are claiming they will pay for their healthcare plans. News out of the House of Representatives is that they will introduce their bill on either Thursday or Friday of this week.
In the mean time, on Tuesday a caucus meeting with Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will be held on Tuesday to discuss the funding plans. This will be followed by a brief by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) while Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) will speak on Friday. Rangel is last because his committee is in charge of finding the tax increases that will pay for the plan.
Democrats also say that the “public option” will be a prominent feature of their bill and will be similar to the current Medicare system.
Taxes on soda pop, a national sales tax, new taxes on healthcare benefits from employers, and a surtax on people making more than $250,000 annually are all being considered to help pay for the healthcare “reform.”
If Democrats settle on taxing healthcare benefits from employers, they will find a tough road to get the plan passed as the majority of Americans are against such a tax.
A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 58% of respondents feel that government run healthcare is a bad thing and that 72% do not want to pay more than $500 a year of their own money to “fix healthcare.”
The poll also found that of the 88% of respondents that already have healthcare 49% say they are very satisfied with their plans and 36% said they are somewhat satisfied. Once these voters realize that Obamacare will take away their current healthcare, there will be a lot of upset Americans.
In fact, in June, a CNN poll found that 58% are very concerned that their current level of healthcare will be reduced by government meddling.
If the Democrats introduce high taxing plans the middle class will surely revolt from Obamacare.
Neil Stevens
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Daniel Horowitz
Jake Walker
"Similar to Medicare" should scare everyone spitless
Next93 (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 6:49AM EST (link)The current medicare system is the primary reason that healthcare is “broken”. This is the model of efficiency that’s going to make it possible to pay for the healthcare of every deadbeat in the country?
I saw a news report a couple of weeks ago that claimed that up to 30% of Medicare payments are fraudulent, and that drug lords in Miami had changed occupations because stealing from Medicare as safer, easier, and paid better than running drugs.
The American people might have been stupid enough to put a smooth-talking charlatan in the White House (and even Al Franken in the senate!), but there’s just no way they’re going to fall for the idea of turning the best healthcare system in the world over to the control of the same people who screwed up the cost structure. Right?
Obama was The One in 2008.
He’ll be a BIGGER one in 2012.
"Similar to MEDICARE" is the line that caught my eye as well.
USNJIMRET (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 7:42AM EST (link)Any expansion of that wonderful example of inefficiency, waste, fraud and abuse is unconscionable, IMO.
Which makes it the concept with the greatest chance of Democrat approval.
"Similar to Medicare"
djemi (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 8:54AM EST (link)Reah right.
‘It Costs to Much and Kills to Many’ (copyright djemi, but anyone can use it)
Well from all accounts that I’ve read and been told about by my Doctor buddies at least its not “Similar to the VA”
“If I can’t shoot rabbits,then I can’t shoot fascist”
“With age, comes Wisdom, but only if you are paying Attention, son” my ‘Old Man’
RS Help files (h/t JLenardDetroit) Grassroots in Michigan
Moes Strategy
I remember Hillarycare in TN, they called in TNcare, and
Vaughn Harold (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 7:35AM EST (link)it was a disaster. After years of reworking it because of all the people that shouldn’t have been on it in the first place a local pavilion in my hometown that treats for drug and alcohol abuse has to shut down because TNcare isn’t able to pay its bills.
And this is how Obama is going to fix healthcare, wrong!
We still have
MSU_Charles Tuesday, July 7th at 9:31AM EST (link)TennCare and it is still a mess devouring vast amounts of state resources to insure just over 1 million people.
When is a surtax worse than a surtax?
bk (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 7:55AM EST (link)According to this article, one of the possibilities is to apply the surtax to AGI, i.e. it hits you before standard and itemized deductions are factored in.
Rangel has been pushing the surtax idea for years and he has the power to make it happen now.
Revolt? So what!!
dmartin Tuesday, July 7th at 8:07AM EST (link)Public opinion on TARP was as much as 100-1 against, it got pased anyway. Stimulus and cap & trade were both very unpopular, they are talkiing now about stimulus II, and Cap & trade passed the house. Our government treats our rovolts with about as much respect as the Iranian government does its peoples.
Precisely.
farstar99 (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 10:18AM EST (link)What form would the revolt take?
I was involved in the tea parties, but even I acknowledge they accomplished very little.
The bottom line is that Democrats don’t fear us.
And they control the press.
They’re tyrants, and tyrants don’t care what the people think.
They don’t feel fear until there’s a mob with pitchforks and rifles bayonetting their fellow cult members, and burning them at the stake.
This is what happens when you don’t safeguard your electoral system. The people are left with only one resort.
Surtax = Rationing
MSU_Charles Tuesday, July 7th at 9:44AM EST (link)Because many doctors earn around the $250,000 amount each year, they will be faced with a negative incentive to make over $250,000. Therefore, they will treat patients up to the point where the earn $250,000 but not over it. I believe we will see many doctors taking very long vacations at the end of every year, which will be rationing care until the next year.
Or work with a borrowed SS#
Greg (Diary) Tuesday, July 7th at 9:54AM EST (link)SS will issue a tax ID if not in the country legally. Why not apply this to doctors. Letting them keep more of there own money.