Partial list of taxes and fees in health overhaul
Starting in 2014, President Barack Obama's health care law will expand coverage to some 30 million uninsured people. At the same time, insurers no longer will be allowed to turn away those in poor health, and virtually every American will be required to have health insurance — through an employer or a government program or by buying it on their own.
For the vast majority of people, the health care law won't mean sending more money to the Internal Revenue Service. But the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will take the biggest hit, starting next year.
And roughly 20 million people eventually will benefit from tax credits that start in 2014 to help them pay insurance premiums.
A look at some of the major taxes and fees, estimated to raise nearly $700 billion over 10 years.
— Upper-income households. Starting Jan. 1, individuals making more than $200,000 per year, and couples making more than $250,000, will face a 0.9 percent Medicare tax increase on wages above those threshold amounts. They'll also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income. Together these are the biggest tax increase in the health care law.
— Employer penalties. Starting in 2014, companies with 50 or more employees that do not offer coverage will face penalties if at least one of their employees receives government-subsidized coverage. The penalty is $2,000 per employee, but a company's first 30 workers don't count toward the total.
— Health care industries. Insurers, drug companies and medical device manufacturers face new fees and taxes. Companies that make medical equipment sold chiefly through doctors and hospitals, such as pacemakers, artificial hips and coronary stents, will pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on their sales, expected to total $1.7 billion in its first year, 2013. They're trying to get it repealed.
The insurance industry faces an annual fee that starts at $8 billion in its first year, 2014.
Pharmaceutical companies that make or import brand-name drugs are already paying fees; they totaled $2.5 billion in 2011, the first year.
— People who don't get health insurance. Nearly 6 million people who don't get health insurance will face tax penalties starting in 2014. The fines are estimated to raise $6.9 billion in 2016. Average penalty in that year: about $1,200.
— Indoor tanning devotees. The 10 percent sales tax on indoor tanning sessions took effect in 2010. It's expected to raise $1.5 billion over 10 years.
The 28 million people who visit tanning booths and beds each year — mostly women under 30, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology — are already paying. Tanning salons were singled out because of strong medical evidence that exposure to ultraviolet lights increases the risk of skin cancer.
For the vast majority of people, the health care law won't mean sending more money to the Internal Revenue Service. But the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will take the biggest hit, starting next year.
And roughly 20 million people eventually will benefit from tax credits that start in 2014 to help them pay insurance premiums.
A look at some of the major taxes and fees, estimated to raise nearly $700 billion over 10 years.
— Upper-income households. Starting Jan. 1, individuals making more than $200,000 per year, and couples making more than $250,000, will face a 0.9 percent Medicare tax increase on wages above those threshold amounts. They'll also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income. Together these are the biggest tax increase in the health care law.
— Employer penalties. Starting in 2014, companies with 50 or more employees that do not offer coverage will face penalties if at least one of their employees receives government-subsidized coverage. The penalty is $2,000 per employee, but a company's first 30 workers don't count toward the total.
— Health care industries. Insurers, drug companies and medical device manufacturers face new fees and taxes. Companies that make medical equipment sold chiefly through doctors and hospitals, such as pacemakers, artificial hips and coronary stents, will pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on their sales, expected to total $1.7 billion in its first year, 2013. They're trying to get it repealed.
The insurance industry faces an annual fee that starts at $8 billion in its first year, 2014.
Pharmaceutical companies that make or import brand-name drugs are already paying fees; they totaled $2.5 billion in 2011, the first year.
— People who don't get health insurance. Nearly 6 million people who don't get health insurance will face tax penalties starting in 2014. The fines are estimated to raise $6.9 billion in 2016. Average penalty in that year: about $1,200.
— Indoor tanning devotees. The 10 percent sales tax on indoor tanning sessions took effect in 2010. It's expected to raise $1.5 billion over 10 years.
The 28 million people who visit tanning booths and beds each year — mostly women under 30, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology — are already paying. Tanning salons were singled out because of strong medical evidence that exposure to ultraviolet lights increases the risk of skin cancer.
The fine for employers is far less than the cost of providing coverage to employees. So....let's play this tape all the way through. Employers eliminate coverage for employees and opt to pay the much lower cost in the form of a fine. Employees (eventually all employed persons) are forced into the 'open market' aka government subsidized plans. 'For Profit' insurers are no longer able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. The 'profits' are diminished. Over a period of time, 'for profit' companies exit the market and we end up with the single payer system.
With 0bama, we are seeing the "Peter Principle" in action. Unfortunately. This is one 'community organizer' who should have remained with his community.
0bamaCare will be a monumental failure.
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Future generations of conservatives will reference it often and future generations of liberals will ignore it.
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Because we refuse to look at the past we are doomed to repeat all the same mistakes in the future. This is the number one argument against evolution.
 @RalphCramden I would argue that 30 million people with zero access to regular health care is the real monumental failure.Â
 @KennyboyÂ
Once the financial system fails very few will have access to much of anything.
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Already we are paying out over 2 trillion in SS, Medicare, and interest on the national debt. We are only taking in 2.7 trillion. Yet we are spending 1.3 trillion over the income. That means that more and more money will be going to pay the interest on the debt. SS and Medicare outlays will double in the nest 16 years to equal 100% of the budget with no money left over for anything else.
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Those are the facts.
 @Kennyboy The financial system will collapse. In that there is no doubt.
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Once that happens then food, water, shelter and safety will be the only priorities.
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The US can no longer afford all the promises it has made and soon it will hit the fan as they say.
 @RalphCramden The data you present is fact, but the financial system failing is conjecture - it may or may not happen. What is happening - also a fact - is that good people are dying every day from curable diseases and sicknesses simply because they cannot afford to go to the doctor. Because they work in low wage jobs with no health insurance benefits or they have pre-existing conditions which prevents them from buying overpriced insurance.Â
As much as I hate to parrot talking points, the reality is this. NONE, not a single one, of these 'business' taxes will be paid by the businesses. They will simply increase costs to consumers. End result, 'we' end up paying more for things.Â
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That's the fundamental problem with the uber-left wing fantasy of tax, fee, assessments leveled against 'big bad businesses'. They don't pay them. They simply pass the additional costs on in the form of higher prices to consumers. That's also why the often touted idea that Obamacare isn't going to cost taxpayers more is a flat-out lie. The government isn't going to charge them any more, but those who do pay more to the government will.Â
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Tack on the looming 'fiscal cliff' tax increases yet to come, and I'm hard pressed to believe that President Obamas legacy isn't going to be another recession.Â
So much for any savings; vacations; little "extra"; or any semblance of our former way of life. The government has officially found a way to tax us beyond repair. People who can't afford insurance today won't be able to afford insurance tomorrow. . . and simply giving them a "tax credit" does nothing to pay the bills throughout the year.
It's a great idea in theory, but the costs are more than anyone realizes at this point. It's going to throw us deeper into the pit that is our economy.