Interest groups are fighting some of the new taxes proposed in the Senate Finance bill.
"Insurance companies, unions, medical device makers and others in the health care industry are furiously lobbying lawmakers to shift burdens onto someone else — anyone else — before they find themselves saddled with billions of dollars in taxes under new health care legislation," The Associated Press reports. "Their gain would be another industry's loss, of course, unless the entire overhaul effort collapses and Congress fails to agree on how to pay to provide health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans." Some lawmakers are concerned that the bill is already "a delicate balance of opposing forces."
But it's not smooth sailing yet, as "key industry groups are scrambling to avoid being a target." Union groups plan to run an ad opposing the bill because of a tax on "Cadillac" insurance plans. Insurers also launched "a TV ad campaign in six states accusing Democrats of seeking to cut $100 billion from subsidies for Medicare Advantage, under which private insurance companies provide Medicare benefits" (Babington, 10/14).
The Wall Street Journal answers question about how the Senate Finance Committee bill affects taxes: "A levy on employer health plans with annual premiums of more than $8,000 for an individual or $21,000 for a family. It would be levied on insurers and is set at 40% of the amount above the thresholds. The cutoffs are higher for retirees older than 55, some high-cost states and certain high-risk professions, such as firefighters. For plans above the threshold, 'all or almost all' of the tax would likely be passed to employees in some form, says Len Burman, a Syracuse University public-affairs professor" (Mathews, 10/14).