Former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich makes a case for what he calls "John McCain's best idea" - taxing the health insurance benefits that many of us get from our employers. Reich argues that, while McCain's version was "regressive," the concept was on the right track.
Reich is very persuasive in pointing out how employer-provided health care still disproportionally benefits the well-off (what doesn't?) while skewing other aspects of the job market (like people afraid to leave jobs because they don't want to lose their health insurance). But I'm one of those people who heard McCain suggest this back during the campaign and just felt my chest tighten. I mean, my health insurance would probably be considered at least a few thousand dollars of extra income, which would really hurt me at tax time. But... along with the new tax would come the option of a public health care system that I could choose instead, right?
Or we could just go with Reich's final suggestion - exempt employees who make under $100,000 a year. That works.
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