Pajamas TV‘s Steven Crowder goes to Canada and films a guerrilla-style documentary about what the typical Canadian citizen must undergo to receive treatment under the country’s socialized medical system. Watch below, and send to others!
Max Baucus on how to pay for health care
By Carrie Budoff Brown and David Rigers (Politico.com)
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year.
Faced with a $320 billion hole in his reform plan, Baucus revisited options that were considered in the past, but never emerged as top-tier options because he believed taxing employer-provided health benefits was the best way to provide that revenue.
The Senate Democratic leadership nixed the idea this week, saying the caucus could not support it because it would hurt the middle class. They asked Baucus, who was closing in on a deal, to go back to the negotiating table and find a more politically viable plan to pay for the $1 trillion reform bill.
Instead of relying on one major source of funding, the committee will have to piece together revenue from a variety of places. The list, as detailed to POLITICO by people familiar with the negotiations, shows senators could fill the $320 billion gap quickly if they were able to find consensus to:
- Broaden the 1.45-percent Medicare tax on earned income to “passive income,” which could include money from capital gains, rental properties and businesses that do not require direct participation. This could raise $100 billion.
- Levy a five-percent surtax on individuals who earn more than $500,000 and couples that make $1 million.
- Tax health benefits at a higher level than had been considered. Two scenarios are in play. Taxing plans worth more than $20,300 for a family and $8,300 for an individual could raise $240 billion. Increasing the cut-off to plans worth more than $25,000 would bring $90 billion.
- Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise $168 billion, while the second would collect $90 billion.
- Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising $75 billion.
- Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as $20 billion, and insurance providers, raising $75 billion.
Daria DiGiovanni, blogger for Palin Drone, attended the July 2 Health Care Freedom Rally in Boca Raton and gave us her account of how she braved the elements with other citizens concerned about the plan for the government takeover of our health care system:
Daria DiGiovanni is a freelance writer, blogger, editor and author of the book Water Signs: A Story of Love and Renewal.
FOX NEWS, WASHINGTON — Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals.
In a revamped health care system envisioned by lawmakers, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face penalties.
David McKalip, a world renowned neurological surgeon, was able to debate the man who is described as the “Chief architect of the Obama Health Plan” today, Harvard Economist David Cutler on BBC World news. David Cutler was originally against an individual mandate and has stated that if health insurance were affordable, that we could naturally insure 95-98% of Americans without a mandate.
Here is a link to the debate from the BBC radio program “News Hour” from 8:30 am EST (1:30 pm GMT) on June 20, 2009. Start at 26:30
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/emp/emp_console.shtml?p=Newshour&l=en&t=audio&n=2
Here is what David Cutler has said about affordability of insurance, mandates and how affordable products can decrease the number of uninsured. Unfortunately, he seems to think the way to make it “affordable” is to have the taxpayers subsidize middle class people to buy overpriced, overregulated, politically created insurance products. As an economist, he should recognize that a true, minimally regulated free market with empowered individual consumers will be better at creating affordable products - without rationing!
David Cutler in 2007 as advisor to Obama Campaign:
“A better approach is to do everything possible to make it affordable and available. When it is, almost everyone will have it.”
“Let’s look at the level of coverage you can get without a mandate. Our estimates, based on studies in the literature, is that we can get 98% or 99% coverage without a mandate for adults. There may be some small pockets of people who choose not to buy it.”
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Here is a link to watch the discussion of the Senate Committee on Health Care. If you choose the Morning Session of the 19th., they start discussing rationing of health care. They are calling it Comparative effectiveness. Their staff are suppose to be working on this over the weekend and will meet again on:
Mon., June 22, 03:00 PM
Senate – Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions
Business meeting to continue consideration of Affordable Health Choices Act, subcommittee assignments, and any pending
nominations. – SR-325
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2009_06_17_E/2009_06_17_E.html
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