Excise Tax on your Health Care....Contact your Congressperson!
By Vice President Nicole Carter
October 15, 2009
From the USAToday:
Labor unions are pledging to fight a proposed excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, saying it will hurt public employees and union workers in industries and states with expensive health-care costs.
Under a Senate Finance Committee bill, insurance plans that cost more than $8,000 for an individual and $21,000 for a family would be subject to a 40% excise tax in 2013 to help pay the cost of the massive revamp of the nation's health-care system. As we reported today, the finance panel raised the threshold to $9,850 for an individual (and $26,000 for families) for retirees and workers in high-risk jobs, such as mining and construction.
Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, whose members benefited from the change, wants lawmakers to go further and eliminate the tax. "There are a significant number of plans all over this country that would exceed or bump these limits right now, much less in 2013," he told USA TODAY this week.
Instead, Schaitberger favors a House proposal that would help pay for the health-care plan by imposing a tax on families earning more than $350,000. "They can afford to pick up at lot more of the cost," he said.
Schaitberger will join Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., and other Democrats at a late-morning news conference on Capitol Hill to air their concerns. Courtney and more than 150 other House Democrats also have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, denouncing the excise tax
Congressman Frank Wolf
Serving the 10th Congressional District of Virginia
Washington, D.C. Office 241 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-5136 (202) 225-0437 fax
District Offices
Herndon 13873 Park Center Rd Ste.130 Herndon, VA 20171 (703) 709-5800 or (800) 945-9653 in state (703) 709-5802 fax
Winchester 110 N. Cameron St. Winchester, VA 22601 (540) 667-0990 or (800) 850-3463 in state (540) 678-0402 fax
