The unintended consequences of the Obamacare bill keep piling up. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Blue Shield of California has asked for a significant rate hike in the coming year. Some of the customers of Blue Shield of California will experience rate hikes of up to 59 per cent.
The article reports:
"(Blue Shield spokesman Tom) Epstein said Blue Shield raised rates again Jan. 1 to pay for reforms under the national healthcare overhaul and a new state law that bars insurers from charging women more than men. (Some policyholders will pay less under the state gender law, while others will pay more.)
"A third round of hikes scheduled for March 1 comes in response to rising healthcare costs, he said. Those increases will average 6.5% and be as high as 18%.
"Some policyholders have seen their bills rise gradually over the last five months, while others will see the charges lumped together March 1."
The national healthcare reform bill that Congress passed was not well thought out and was not a good bill. We need to repeal it and start again.
Another aspect of the bill is the 3 percent tax on the sale of homes. Money Talks News reported on this tax in September. This tax will go into effect in January of 2013. It is set up so that it 'will only impact the wealthy' and the average American will not be impacted by it. Is anyone willing to make a small wager on how long it will be before that tax will include average Americans? The problem with taxes is that they rarely go down--they tend to increase--not decrease.
According to Money Talks News:
"In his recent guest column regarding the impact of the health care bill, Paul Guppy of the Washington Policy Center claimed that a 3.8 percent tax on all home sales was a part of the recently passed legislation. This is inaccurate and needs to be corrected. The truth about the bill is that if you sell your home for a profit above the capital gains threshold of $250,000 per individual or $500,000 per couple then you would be required to pay the additional 3.8 percent tax on any gain realized over this threshold.
"Most people who sell their homes will not be impacted by these new regulations. This is not a new tax on every seller, and that correction needs to be made. This tax is aimed at so-called "high earners" - if you do not fall into that category you will not pay any extra taxes upon the sale of your home."
In the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I will not be affected by this tax as it currently stands. My fear is that as inflation kicks in (and Congress wants more money) the tax will begin to impact average Americans. We also need to keep in mind that in some areas of the country, an elderly couple who has been living in their house for forty years and who is middle class would be in danger of having to pay the 3 per cent tax.
The job of the government is not to redistribute wealth--the job of the government is to get out of the way so that the creativity of the American people can create jobs and help all of us prosper.
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