Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes

Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes

Monday, July 02, 2012 12:49 PM | Ryan Ellis and John Kartch (Twitter: @Taxplaya and @JohnKartch)

Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses

Taxpayers are reminded that the President's healthcare law is one of the largest tax increases in American history.

Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:

Taxes that took effect in 2010:

1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971

2. Codification of the "economic substance doctrine" (Tax hike of $4.5 billion).  This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks "substance" and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113

3. "Black liquor" tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion).  This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105

4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980

5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004

6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons.Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399

Taxes that took effect in 2011:

7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959

8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959

Tax that took effect in 2012:

9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957

Taxes that take effect in 2013:

10. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013):  Creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single).  This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income: Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 87-93

	Capital Gains	Dividends	Other*
2012	15%	15%	35%
2013+	23.8%	43.4%	43.4%

*Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations.  It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income.  It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans.  The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens.

11. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax ($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:

	First $200,000 ($250,000 Married) Employer/Employee	All Remaining Wages Employer/Employee
Current Law	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed
Obamacare Tax Hike	1.45%/1.45% 2.9% self-employed	1.45%/2.35% 3.8% self-employed

Bill: PPACA, Reconciliation Act; Page: 2000-2003; 87-93

12. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers ($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax.  Exempts items retailing for <$100. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,980-1,986

13. High Medical Bills Tax ($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI).  The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994-1,995

14. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka "Special Needs Kids Tax" ($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited).  Indexed to inflation after 2013. There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.  There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.  Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,388-2,389

15. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D ($4.5 bil/Jan 2013) Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994

16. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives ($0.6 bil/Jan 2013). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,995-2,000

Taxes that take effect in 2014:

17. Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying "qualifying" health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following

	1 Adult	2 Adults	3+ Adults
2014	1% AGI/$95	1% AGI/$190	1% AGI/$285
2015	2% AGI/$325	2% AGI/$650	2% AGI/$975
2016 +	2.5% AGI/$695	2.5% AGI/$1390	2.5% AGI/$2085

Exemptions for religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS). Bill: PPACA; Page: 317-337

18. Employer Mandate Tax (Jan 2014):  If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees.  Applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer). Bill: PPACA; Page: 345-346

Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years

19. Tax on Health Insurers ($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year.  Phases in gradually until 2018.  Fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,986-1,993

Taxes that take effect in 2018:

20. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans ($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on "Cadillac" health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family).  Higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions.  CPI +1 percentage point indexed. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,941-1,956

--

Twitter

GOP Alternative to ObamaScare

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness

Claims by Obamacare backers about lack of GOP alternative are unfounded

The Oklahoman Editorial | Published: July 31, 2012     45

SUPPORTERS of President Barack Obama's health care law claim conservatives offer no alternative other than a return to an untenable status quo.

NEWSOK RELATED ARTICLES

• Ordeal at Penn State sparks call for vigilance 
  07/31/2012 It's easy to wonder how Penn State officials could allow something so horrible to go on for so long. Red flags surrounded Jerry Sandusky as far back as 1998...
• Investors more bullish on Oklahoma's oil, gas clime 
  07/31/2012 Finally, Oklahoma has topped Mississippi in a national ranking. This time, though, it's a good thing. A standing joke in this state when rankings emerge...

In reality, Republicans have produced bold reform proposals that would allow officials to both repeal and replace Obamacare.

Oklahoma's own U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, introduced the Patients' Choice Act in 2009 (along with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and others.)

Coburn's plan would grant individuals the same tax advantages employers get for purchasing health insurance. That would greatly benefit Oklahoma's countless self-employed farmers, ranchers and other entrepreneurs, as well as uninsured workers.

Coburn's bill also gives every American a $2,290 tax credit (or $5,710 per family) to buy health insurance. The tax credit would cover the employee's share of a policy while the employer continues to cover the rest, as occurs currently. Any remaining tax credit money could be used for a health savings account covering routine medical expenses.

The legislation reforms Medicaid by giving low-income families an additional $5,000 on top of their tax credit. That would provide a family $10,710 to buy insurance coverage outside of Medicaid. Coburn notes that 40 percent of doctors and hospitals nationally refuse to accept Medicaid patients due to low payments. His plan would therefore improve low-income families' access to health care.

On the other hand, Obamacare doesn't address Medicaid's problems; it merely supersizes the program.

Coburn's bill calls for state insurance exchanges giving citizens access to a wide range of insurance products with guaranteed coverage regardless of age or pre-existing conditions. Unlike Obamacare, Coburn's plan isn't financed by cutting Medicare funding, and it doesn't require new spending or new taxes. One independent estimate predicted Coburn's bill could save $70 billion and provide coverage to a majority of uninsured Americans.

Ryan, budget guru of the U.S. House, has called for transforming Medicare to a premium-support payment for currently younger workers and increasing competitive bidding in the system. He also wants to convert the federal share of Medicaid spending into a block grant for states, indexed for inflation and population growth, allowing state-level reforms.

Liberals who decry repeal efforts act as though Obamacare has resolved health care problems. It hasn't. Surveys indicate many experienced doctors are considering retirement due to the law and fewer people may enter the medical profession.

Steve Jacob, adjunct faculty with the University of North Texas Health Science Center, estimates the United States will need to produce an additional 24,000 doctors annually for 20 years to meet demand under Obamacare. He notes one in four Oklahoma physicians is 60 or older, and Oklahoma has only 69 primary-care physicians for every 100,000 residents.

Health care costs are predicted to skyrocket under Obamacare. Jacob estimates the average family premium in Oklahoma will be $22,128 by 2020 under Obamacare, compared with $13,006 in 2010. Oklahoma employees' share will nearly double while deductibles will surge to $5,200 from $1,977. The average Oklahoma employee share of the premium and deductible combined would comprise about 12.5 percent of median household income.

Obamacare is clearly unsustainable. It lacks buy-in from patients and doctors; its financial impact on government finance and private incomes will be devastating.

Obamacare won't improve our health care woes. Coburn and Ryan show there are sustainable alternatives to improve patient coverage without breaking the bank.

Read more: http://newsok.com/claims-by-obamacare-backers-about-lack-of-gop-alternative-are-unfounded/article/3696764#ixzz22VrTa8nM

Major Reforms To Entitlements Can't Be Put Off - Investors.com

Major Reforms To Entitlements Can't Be Put Off - Investors.com: "Procrastination is rarely a cost-free strategy. That is true when it comes to fixing Social Security — as much as the Obama administration and, even more forcefully, its allies on the left may wish to believe otherwise.

Their 'what's the big rush?' message goes like this: The retirement program isn't really contributing to deficits in the short run.

Indeed, its finances are healthy enough so that it can continue paying all promised benefits for more than two decades, until 2037.

Even then, if absolutely nothing is done, Social Security would be able to pay about 75% of promised benefits.

So where's the fire? Here it is. Last year, for the first time in its history, Social Security paid out more in benefits than it received in payroll taxes.

The recession caused this shortfall: Seniors who lost their jobs chose to start collecting benefits earlier, while payroll tax collections fell because of high unemployment and lower wages.

As a general matter, it's true — although less than previously — that Social Security is not a cause of short-term deficits.

In fact, until last year, the surplus in the Social Security trust fund masked the true size of the current deficit. But the 2010 experience is a hint of things to come — soon.

By 2015, Social Security will be increasing the deficit every year, not obscuring it.

Still, that's not the real problem, or the strongest argument against thumb-twiddling. The reason is that making changes now will make it easier to protect the very people that the 'Social Security's not a problem' brigade say they care about.

Need To Act Now

The Social Security trustees make this point every year in their annual report about the system's finances: 'If action is taken sooner rather than later, more options will be available and more time will be available to phase in changes so that those affected have adequate time to prepare.'

The challenge isn't huge, but it is significant. As a useful paper by Charles Blahous and Robert Greenstein for the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative explains, when the trust funds run out, the gap between Social Security revenues and benefit payments will be 1.3% of the gross domestic product — about one-fifth of the projected deficit then.

Yes, Medicare and Medicaid present a bigger challenge, but the Social Security shortfall represents a significant slice of the deficit.

Unlike the health programs, whose solvency ultimately depends on the uncertain enterprise of slowing cost growth, the potential fixes to Social Security are both obvious and reliable.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness