House Health Plan Outlines Higher Taxes on Rich
The New York Times, July 14th, 2009
House Democratic leaders took a big step toward guaranteeing
health insurance for most Americans on Tuesday as they unveiled a bill that detailed how they would expand coverage, slow the growth of
Medicare, raise taxes on high-income people and penalize employers who do not provide health benefits to their workers.
A day after President Obama
pressured Democratic leaders to speed work on his top domestic
priority, three House committees announced plans to begin voting on the
measure this week.
Starting in 2011, a family making $500,000
would have to pay $1,500 in additional income tax to help subsidize
coverage for the uninsured. A family making $1 million would have to
pay $9,000.
Employers who do not provide health insurance to
workers would generally have to pay a fee or penalty to the government.
The fee would be equal to 8 percent of wages for an employer with an
annual payroll of more than $400,000.
After months of setbacks
and uncertainty, House Democrats were jubilant as they introduced their
proposal to achieve a goal that has eluded presidents for six decades.
“This
is indeed a happy day, for today we are introducing historic and
transformative legislation that will benefit all Americans, a health
insurance act for the great middle class of America,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
President
Obama hailed the House bill, which he described as a product of
“unprecedented cooperation” by three House committees.
Speaking
from Warren, Mich., Mr. Obama said, “Don’t be fooled by folks trying to
scare you by saying we can’t change the health care system. We have no
choice but to fix the health care system because right now it’s broken
for too many Americans.”
The surtax would apply to any adjusted
gross income exceeding $280,000 a year for an individual and $350,000
for a couple filing a joint return. The tax rates would range from 1
percent to 5.4 percent.
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