Healthcare and Huge Taxes

The $6/hour is something I watched on a discussion on the morning news. I think they got that figure from the actual cost of the plan and the subsequent taxing of the healthcare plan. So, in total, the pundit's guest (I forget who it was... I'll check YouTube) figured the amount up to be $6/hour IF the admin's currently proposed plan goes through. As far as the higher taxes for business owners and inflation rates and whatnot, that comes from stuff I've read all over since Obama was still running for president: Politico, CNN, etc. Not to mention Obama said it himself: a return to higher taxes for $250,000+ (which, let's get real, will eventually HAVE to be $50,000 lol) Even if it ends up being just half that total ($6/hour), employers are still in for some very rough times. And if you don't have job security tighter than a frog's a$$, forget about it! You're on the bread lines. And I forget to even mention unemployment insurance employers have to pay. I haven't heard anything about those rates. I'll get to checking.

I guess what I'm not understanding is what is supposed to happen to the insurance giants under this plan? Do they cease to exist? That wouldn't make sense, especially considering that the government just bailed out AIG insurance. I know what my former employer paid per employee for Blue Cross/Blue Shield because I handled the benefits and it was way less than $6 per person so does this mean that current contracts with insurance carriers will cease to exist and new rate increases will replace them? That's not government run healthcare, that's still private industry healthcare, so what reason could there be for the increase? "And I forget to even mention unemployment insurance employers have to pay. I haven't heard anything about those rates. I'll get to checking." Employers already contribute to unemployment insurance under Futa (Federal) and SUTA (State) payroll taxes or, in the case of the railroad industry, the Railroad Retirement Board.

Ok, I don't pretend to have all of the answers but this is what I know. If you already have insurance through your job nothing will change. Some employers who don't currently offer insurance to their employees will have to start...like Walmart, for instance, who considers most of their employees as part-time, keeping their hours under 40 per week so they don't have to offer them insurance coverage. But, they will be able to purchase insurance at group rates just like any other business does. Small businesses with less than "X" number of employees will be exempt. The major insurance carriers aren't going to raise their rates because of this because I would imagine that they will all be trying to attract these new customers. Here in Florida we have a state run homeowner's insurance plan for folks who can't get homeowner's insurance with a regular insurance company. I believe that the government is looking at something like that for folks who don't have health insurance through their jobs because their employer is too small, or because they are unemployed or self employed. Individuals will most likely have to pay for this insurance but it's not likely to cost the amount of money per month that you mentioned in your discussion. Buying individual insurance from one of the major carriers would cost much less than that so it would be a wasted program. Also, poor people can't afford a high insurance premium so it would defeat the purpose of healthcare reform to price the most needy out of the program. "And I know employers already contribute to unemployment insurance. My point: Those rates will probably go up as well, as we experience more unemployment or just because employers will be considered "able" to pay more." I don't see any logical reason for an employer's FUTA or SUTA contributions to increase because collecting unemployment benefits is a limited time safety net. As more people become unemployed, more people also stop receiving benefits as they expire. Keep in mind, too, that employers make these contributions the entire time someone is employed by them but that employee only collects unemployment benefits for around 6 months and that's only if he/she was employed long enough. I was with my last employer for over 2 years before my position was cut so my employer put much more into the program than I took out.

Well, that's not entirely true. When the health care plans start getting finishes and the legislation starts running through Congress, you can actually get on the US Congress website and read the legislation. Then, if we don't like it, we should call and email our congressmen to let them know. I never watch the news on TV to get my information anymore. Facts are optional with them.

Sounds about like me. A lot of thinking, not enough knowing. That's what scares me. Nobody's gonna "know" until it's here.

It just doesn't. It just can't. America is a different machine, not meant to run on 10-W socialism. We'll lock up. Thanks for responding. :-)