[Rhodes22-list] POLITICAL- Health Care and taxes

Tue Oct 21 14:34:12 EDT 2008

Brad, Actually, it was a thoughtful response.  right or wrong, it responded to the question without name calling and without the need to condemn either side of the debate.  Personally, I don't like either plan but I had hoped that some of the more thoughtful among the group might provide some insight.  

>From my perspective a tax on health care benefits would result in a substantial increase in taxes for those I know and the tax credit imposed would simply redistribute current income to everyone else.  I see little difference in this approach and any other type of tax credit.

Employers should be free to choose whether to provide such benefits and, right or wrong, the tax structure to date encourages the provision of employer based health financing (its not really insurance is it?).  The taxation of such benefits will undoubtedly change the way such benefits are provided.  I'm simply curious as to whether my understanding of the provision is at all similar to others and this list,certainly offers a plethora of opinions.

R. Thomas Dorsey
450 Montbrook Lane
Knoxville, TN 37919-2705
865-691-5052
865-691-9835 (fax)

>>> On 10/21/2008 at 1:16 PM, in message <400985d70810211016l1ad4a507mc372184d89490e1d at mail.gmail.com>, "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
Tom,

Actually, it wasn't all that thoughtful.  You live in Tennessee,
right?  Then you should be familiar with TennCare, that wonderful
"universal healthcare" that nearly broke the State's budget until Gov.
Bredesen, Dem. (who I voted for) substantially cut back the benefits
and eligibility. Every state that has tried it has run into the same
problem - people use their "free" benefits every time they fart
crossways because, hey, it's free. Medicare is wonderful for people
like my parents, retired on SS, but they carry supplemental insurance
as well because Medicare "fixes prices" on what they will pay and my
Mom & Dad couldn't use the doctors and facilities they want without
supplemental insurance. As is the case with any free market, when you
fix prices you reduce supply.

McCain's plan would tax those of us who have "gold-plated" health care
but it would be offset by the same tax credit that every citizen is
eligible for.  For me, it would be close to a wash if not a slight
increase in taxes.  For most who already have health insurance, it
would be a net gain.  For those who don't have coverage, they can use
the credit to purchase it.  Some young people may choose not to
participate - welcome to a free country.

If you think the US Post Office does a better job of moving packages
than FedEx or UPS, you'll love Obama's plan.

Brad

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:18 AM, Tom  Dorsey <Tom at demaximis.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
>
> R. Thomas Dorsey
> 450 Montbrook Lane
> Knoxville, TN 37919-2705
> 865-691-5052
> 865-691-9835 (fax)
>
>
>>>> On 10/21/2008 at 12:12 PM, in message
> <20093870.post at talk.nabble.com>, Ben Cittadino
> <bcittadino at dcs-law.com> wrote:
>
> Tom;
>
> The Obama plan would work as follows:
>
>   * Establishing a new public program that would look a lot like
> Medicare
> for those under age-65 that would be available to those who do not
> have
> access to an employer plan or qualify for existing government programs
> like
> Medicaid or SCHIP. This would also be open to small employers who do
> not
> offer a private plan.
>    * Creating a "National Health Insurance Exchange." This would be a
> government-run marketing organization that would sell insurance plans
> directly to those who did not have an employer plan or public
> coverage.
>    * An employer "pay or play" provision that would require an
> employer to
> either provide health insurance or contribute toward the cost of a
> public
> plan.
>    * Mandating that families cover all children through either a
> private or
> public health insurance plan.
>    * Expanding eligibility for government programs, like Medicaid and
> SCHIP.
>    * Allow flexibility in embracing state health reform initiatives.
>
> Obama would also mandate guaranteed insurability, a generous minimum
> comprehensive benefits package such as that required for federal
> workers,
> the ability to take their policy from one job to another (portability)
> when
> it is purchased through the new Medicare-like public plan or the
> "National
> Health Insurance Exchange," and he would require providers to
> participate in
> a new plan to collect and report data about standards of care, the use
> of
> health information technology, and administration.
>
> McCain woiuld do for the Health Insurance industry what he did for
> wall
> stree and the oil companies, less regulation, eliminate state
> restrictions
> on limitations by carriers, and tax the benefit.  Marketplace dynamics
> will
> solve everything.
>
> That's my view.
>
> Thanks, Ben C.
>
> Tom  Dorsey wrote:
>>
>> Its been interesting reading the opposing points of view so far.
> One
>> issue I have not yet seen discussed is the proposal by the McCain
> campaign
>> to tax the health benefits provided by employers to their employees.
> For
>> many of us who are fortunate enough to receive this benefit, it would
> seem
>> that we will now receive what could be a substantial income tax
> increase
>> in order to redistribute health credits.  Perhaps those of you who
> follow
>> this more closely could explain the difference between this proposal
> to
>> increase taxes and redistribute tax credits and the one referenced
> below
>> (preferably without the inflammatory labels).
>>
>> R. Thomas Dorsey
>> 450 Montbrook Lane
>> Knoxville, TN 37919-2705
>> 865-691-5052
>> 865-691-9835 (fax)
>>
>>
>>>>> On 10/21/2008 at 11:33 AM, in message
>>>>> <400985d70810210833g6dc2720blbf7ad6c267fdc983 at mail.gmail.com>,
> "Brad
>>>>> Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Ben,
>>
>> Tax policy?  What's left to discuss?  "Share the wealth", that about
>> sums it up, straight from Marx and Mao.  Didn't work for them but
>> maybe Obama is the post-history candidate as well as the post-racial
>> candidate.
>>
>>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Mazjm_A5k&eurl=http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/ 
>
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Ben Cittadino
> <bcittadino at dcs-law.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sorry Guys;
>>>
>>> With two weeks to go before the election, and serious issues to
> discuss,
>>> I
>>> will not participate in a debate that leaps from real issues like
> the
>>> Powell
>>> endorsement, tax policy and the deficit to silliness like whether
> Sen
>>> Obama
>>> is eligible to run.  This thread has run it's course for me.
>>>
>>> Ben C.
>>>
>>> Hank-5 wrote:
>>>>
>>>> For those of you who are interested, here is a link to all of the
> court
>>>> documents.
>>>>
>>>>
> http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-paedce/case_no-2:2008cv04083/case_id-281573/ 
>
>>>>
>>>> Hank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 10/21/08, Tom Bickerstaff <tabick at mchsi.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I personally met Mr. Berg more than twenty years ago at a
> Philadelphia
>>>>> Rotary Club meeting.  He struck me then as being strongly
> Democratic.
>>>>> I
>>>>> see
>>>>> smoke, and usually where there's smoke, there's fire.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyspCRmJv7w 
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>
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>
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>
> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
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