Posted on 03/26/2010 10:11:02 AM PDT by Reaganesque
The health care overhaul will cost U.S. companies billions and make them more likely to drop prescription drug coverage for retirees because of a change in how the government subsidizes those benefits.
In the first two days after the law was signed, three major companies Deere & Co., Caterpillar Inc. and Valero Energy said they expect to take a total hit of $265 million to account for smaller tax deductions in the future.
With more than 3,500 companies now getting the tax break as an incentive to keep providing coverage, others are almost certain to announce similar cost increases in the weeks ahead as they sort out the impact of the change.
Figuring out what it will mean for retirees will take longer, but analysts said as many as 2 million could lose the prescription drug coverage provided by their former employers, leaving them to enroll in Medicare's program.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs defended the tax law change Thursday, saying the original provision allowing companies to deduct the federal subsidies from their taxable income was a "loophole" that will be closed by the health care overhaul.
For the government, the tax changes are expected to raise roughly $4.5 billion over the next decade to help pay for the health overhaul. Some of the savings would be negated by retirees enrolling in the Medicare plans.
"You're increasing the incentive for companies to say 'We don't want to be in the health care business any more,'" said James Gelfand, senior manager of health policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which fought the overhaul.
American industrial companies that are struggling to compete globally against companies with much lower labor costs are particularly likely to eventually drop retiree coverage, said Gene Imhoff, an accounting professor at the University of Michigan.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Yes, but the point here is that they are pushing these retirees onto Medicare Part D. Withdrawing the tax deduction for RDS is intended to increase people’s dependence on government not the market.
TRI CARE FOR LIFE This from a google search:
http://economicspolitics.blogspot.com/2009/05/tricare-for-life-is-obama-trying-to.html
This option would help reduce the costs of TFL, as well as costs for Medicare, by introducing minimum out-of pocket requirements for beneficiaries. Under this option, TFL would not cover any of the first $525 of an enrollees cost-sharing liabilities for calendar year 2011 and would limit coverage to 50 percent of the next $4,725 in Medicare cost sharing that the beneficiary incurred. (Because all further cost sharing would be covered by TFL, enrollees could not pay more than $2,888 in cost sharing in that year.) http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-HealthOptions.pdf
Frankly, I agree. I told the wife to cut off all contributions and tell them to call obastard.
This damn thing is about nothing but raising taxes, reducing benefits, killing old people faster, HUGE complications, more gubment jobs and CONTROL. Other than that it acheieves NOTHING useful that I can see.
OK, maybe it should be repealed. I think of “repeal” as one of the possible sets of changes.
C’mon man.
You’ve lived the good life America made possible for you.
Use the few years you have left for the good of future Americans. You know what liberty and prosperity are. Millions will never know if we don’t act.
“they forgot they will get old as well.”
It doesn’t matter. They exempted themselves from this program. They will be covered.
Remembering that I’m a simpleton, explain why erectile disfunction pills should be subsidized at all. It’s sure a gravy train for the drug companies, as they’re expensive and, based on commercials, widely used. I think the only subsidized help for erectile disfunction should be the vacuum devices. Regarding the pills, if they weren’t subsidized the price would probably come way down. Another thing: selling the pills is a little like selling sex, and sex is never cheap for those who need to pay for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.