Voters, Economists Agree: Tax on Health Care is a Bad Idea

Voters overwhelmingly oppose a proposed tax on health care benefits, and 63 percent said they would be less likely to re-elect a lawmaker who votes for it, according to a new poll conducted for CWA in 10 key states.

And several new studies by leading economists show how the health care tax will slam middle class and working families.

Some 70 percent of voters in the CWA survey said the tax must go. A majority, 54 percent, said they support the funding plan proposed by the House, which would make most employers responsible for providing health care for employees and add a surtax for individuals making more than $500,000 and families earning more than $1 million a year.

The poll surveyed 2,200 likely voters in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Virginia.

In separate studies, the Economic Policy Institute, Citizens for Tax Justice, the Watson Wyatt consulting firm and the Segal Company, which advises companies on benefits, offered more proof that the tax on health care will hurt working and middle income families.

Watson Wyatt pointed out that the tax would apply to plans "whose members have greater health care risks and needs, and also those who live in high cost geographic areas." Most employers say they'd reduce benefits to avoid the tax, Watson Wyatt reported.

EPI said the "excise tax is a cut in benefits, a cut in total compensation, and a shift in risk onto workers" and CTJ warned that it would "noticeably lower living standards, not to mention health security, for tens of millions of Americans."

Read more at www.healthcarevoices.org.