I have written previously about my employer paying me to not take their health insurance coverage. (First, I have to prove to them that I have other coverage, which I do through my wife's job.)
It makes sense for my employer, but it's a perfect symbol of how screwed up our health care system is in this country. Millions go without, and I have too much.
Today I read a recommended diary by someone who canceled his own policy from a major private insurer in protest and will wait a few months for the new federal plan (if there is one) and buy it - or go back to the private market again. It's a risky move that one commenter crudely noted "took a lot of balls."
I can't risk that, but here's what I can do...
Tax my health insurance benefits as income.
I pay taxes on the money they are paying me now to not take insurance (a much smaller amount than the cost of insuring me), but when I think about it, I can't justify my family getting a tax break on the coverage we do have. That extra tax revenue can go toward insuring those who otherwise can't get coverage. The truth is, many of us who still have good employer-paid coverage are probably doing relatively OK financially.
In return, here's what I want:
- Make my out-of-pocket expenses tax deductible. Right off the top - no calculating 7.5% of my income before I get a deduction, or whatever the figure is.
- Tie the percentage of the "health tax" to the amount the new federal programs reduce in real costs. If no cost savings are achieved, no new taxes. The more they cut costs, the more money goes into the system.
- Raise the regular income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans to what they were when Reagan took office, not when he left.
Fair deal?