Yahoo News posted a Bloomberg.com story today on how we are going to pay for the proposed healthcare legislation. The House may agree to the Senate idea of raising Medicare payroll taxes and taxing health benefits. It also looks as if the surtax on the wealthy may be tossed out.
The bottom line here is that someone has to pay for whatever healthcare plan is passed. There is no free lunch. Raising taxes on anything in a struggling economy will inhibit economic growth. This is not the way to end a recession.
What we need to do is to scratch the current healthcare bill and start over. Bipartisanship would be nice. There are a few things that would actually work in dealing with the challenges we face in our healthcare system:
- Tort reform
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions
- Portability across state lines
- Tax breaks to help low income people pay for health insurance
Those are the only things that really need to be done to improve healthcare in America. Anything else is overkill.
If you would like to see the current healthcare reform bill defeated and you live in Massachusetts, a vote for Scott Brown on January 19th would have that effect. If you don't live in Massachusetts, please feel free to donate to his campaign! The election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts may be the only thing that can stop this awful bill!
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