Health Care bill has nowhere to go in senate

Another thing you might consider is that 1/4 of private corporate IT projects are later abandoned often at terrible cost. Now if I was a right-winger I end my comments their. The rest of the story is we have no way of telling how successful government is. We know of some projects, the FBI case file project, that proved to be huge failures, but much of governments work is hidden we really have no way to know how many failures they have had. But these failures have increased corporate overhead.
Jon Albrecht Dixfield

the_poorman, I've seen estimates that medicare administrative overhead runs between 1 1/2% to 3% with the 3% most quoted. Private insurance companies administrative overhead runs from 15% to 33% with something over 30% the most quoted. This is easily explained because the private insurance companies have been increasing premiums (double digit for a decade), increasing profits 428% in last 6 years, and increasing rationing care, about 1/5 of medical decisions are reversed by private insurance companies and they have reduced the % of premiums that go to pay for medical care from 95% to 80% just in the last decade. Medicare is rated higher than all private insurance plans by the insured. The US government runs 50% of all health insurance in the US and runs it much more efficiently than any corporation.
Jon Albrecht Dixfield

Susan2-Please explain how anything you have put here should lead me to believe it will lie heavily on the elderly. Is it the tax on incomes greater than $500K? How many elderly do you know that makes that kind of money each year?

Americans for Tax Reform outlines other taxes the will result if the Pelosi bill is passed:

The bill includes hidden fees and “excise” taxes that will fall heavily on the elderly.

You Will Be Paying For Sex-Change Operations, Europe, Brazil, Cuba, Canada etc. already pay for sex change operations! Even prisons do!!!!!!

Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent ($500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).

Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.

Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).

Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)

Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services. Managers' amendment delays until 2012

Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.

Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.

Repeal in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Repeals the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act. Original bill merely delayed for nine years

Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.

Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.

Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.

s=al&promo_code=905C-1

If you do not like what your senators are about to do, please copy and paste the following links in your browsers to contact them. Tell them how you feel. They are there to represent the people of Maine and your voices DO count!

A link for both Susan Collins and Olympia Snow:

Copy & paste both lines in to your browsers:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information
/senators_cfm.cfm?State=ME

Poorman:
"PS - Medicare operates at 1/3 the cost of any private insurance - how is that wasteful?"

I would like to see your source for this unbelievable statement. Like the proposed health care reform bill, Amtrak was supposed to be self-sufficient...and the taxpayer has been dumping billions of dollars each year into that white elephant. Why should we expect anything different from government-run health care?

“If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain.” Winston Churchill

I have read the bill. Some things you should know that are not advertised. All businesses of 25 or more employees must fully insure all of those employees. Many small businesses such as home construction i.e. framers run on a very small margin they simply can not pay full coverage on their employees. I have first hand knowledge of companies having worked in the payroll business where small businesses have tried offering a group plan where the employer would pay part and the employee part. In order for the business to qualify 80% of the employees must sign on and it is unusual for more than two so no plan, so the small business arguement that employers "owe" employees insurance does not work with me. For employers like framers to provide full coverage for all employees you will see a significant increase in what you pay for their service. Since these jobs are currently mostly filled by illegals working illegally by companies with no unemployment, workers comp, or taxes of any kind including social security and medicare in most areas because it is the only way the companies can operate winning bids. Legal companies can not compete and can not offer the service at an affordable price because of all the above taxes and required insurances already. The addition of the 25 employee rule will guarantee that comapnies will not grow beyond that threshhold by plan because they know the burden will do them in. Any business that is over 25 enployees is going to be looking to downsize to be under the threshhold. Either way this is going to cost jobs.

Any person not insured will be fined $3500 per year man, woman or child. If you are a family of four and work for businesses of under 25 employees so your employer does not provide insurance so you still do not have and can not afford coverage you will be sending the government a check for your fine of $14000 and still not have coverage unless of course you are an illegal and you wont be fined and still get free medical care.

This bill does not provide affordable insurance for families or individuals to be able to purchase. nor does it provide affordable insurance plance for businesses to purchase to cover their employees. As I stated earlier, we are in desperate need of healthcare reform but a bad bill which does not address the problems is not the solution. Not only does this bill not address the problems, it will create many more. Please read the bill.

Sen.Snow will be a Republican turned Democrat. She needs to be removed from office before she really screws things up.

We can only hope and pray that our senators continue to stick to their guns and exercise common sense and not pass this terrible legistlation. Without a doubt, we desperaterly need healthcare reform, but this is not what we need. This bill does not address the real problems with our heathcare system and why a) so many can not afford health insurance b) that the insurance many have is in adaquate and/or wasteful and c) the current public options of medicare and medicaid are hugely wasteful, cumbersum, frequently and conveniently subject to abuse and fraud by practictioners and service providers, inadaquate, and a boon to the administrators and staff who operate them at the expense of those they were intended to serve. We do not need more bad legistlation to say we did something, we need good legislation that will actually address the problem. We do not need legislation that will go into effect after the next presidential election to protect those in power, we need a good bill that will go into effect now and address the real problems. We do not need another bill that will close small business ess like the one that pass ed the house and send our jobs over seas, we need a bill that will keep Americans healthy and on th job. Senators be strong and stick to your guns. It is you who stand between us and a very destructive piece of legislation.