Throughout the day Saturday, one could never tell what was about to happen. First, there was news that President Obama would be traveling to Capital Hill to woo Democrats who were thinking about voting against the health care legislation Nancy Pelosi was trying to pass. Then came word from Speaker Pelosi that the vote on H.R. 3962 may be delayed until next week. Imagine my surprise (not really) when the breaking news alert from ABC News came to my email inbox that the legislation had narrowly passed the House, in a vote of 220-125. In her usual ramrod manner, Nancy Pelosi had managed to get what she wanted.

I have been reading through the actual text of the bill and needless to say, it can be confusing As with any legislation Congress comes up with, it is loaded with lawyer speak and multiple sections and sub-sections. For someone like me, with limited legal language skills (why don’t they just use plain English), it takes several readings to really get the gist of what they are attempting to do with the legislation. I may never get through the entire bill, at least not without getting a headache, but there are sections that cause me great concern.

As has been reported over the past few weeks, the House version of health care reform does contain penalties for those who fail to purchase acceptable health care coverage. From what I can gather from reading and re-reading the text, the penalty is going to be a 2.5% tax. Here is what the actual text says.

SEC. 59B. TAX ON INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT ACCEPTABLE HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

`(a) Tax Imposed- In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of–

`(1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over

`(2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer.

`(b) Limitations-

`(1) TAX LIMITED TO AVERAGE PREMIUM-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The tax imposed under subsection (a) with respect to any taxpayer for any taxable year shall not exceed the applicable national average premium for such taxable year.

`(B) APPLICABLE NATIONAL AVERAGE PREMIUM-

`(i) IN GENERAL- For purposes of subparagraph (A), the `applicable national average premium’ means, with respect to any taxable year, the average premium (as determined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner) for self-only coverage under a basic plan which is offered in a Health Insurance Exchange for the calendar year in which such taxable year begins.

`(ii) FAILURE TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR MORE THAN ONE INDIVIDUAL- In the case of any taxpayer who fails to meet the requirements of subsection (d) with respect to more than one individual during the taxable year, clause (i) shall be applied by substituting `family coverage’ for `self-only coverage’.

You see why I have a headache now? I am still trying to figure this all out, but it does seem to indicate that there will be certain taxes or fines for those who do not purchase acceptable health care coverage. If your adjustable gross income is $50,000, that would amount to $1,250. I don’t know about you and your family, but that is no small change for our family. The definition of the term “acceptable” will be left up to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I have written before about the mandates that are also included in the health care bill in the Senate. As with that legislation, I fail to see how it is a good thing for Congress to mandate penalties for those who are unable to purchase health care coverage. It adds insult to injury to those who are already suffering through financial hardships. As I alluded to in the above paragraph, my family will certainly feel the financial pinch if you add $1,250 on top of the taxes I already pay.

It is important to note how the tax portion of this legislation will be enforced. No actual enforcement is included, but they rather fall back on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code that applies to unpaid taxes. If failure to pay any tax liability is determined to be the result of willful behavior, the result can be more fines and imprisonment. Honestly, do we need the IRS to have any more power and authority than they already have?

In addition to individuals, there are also certain mandates for employers to offer health care coverage. Those employers who fall under the requirements are required to not only offer said coverage, but also pay for a large portion of the premium. The minimum employer contribution is 75% for individual coverage and 65% for family coverage. There are waivers available to employers who can prove the requirement would place an undue hardship on their business. These waivers have to be applied for from the Secretary of Labor, in whatever manner they deem necessary.

I will say this about employer-based health care coverage. I am of the personal opinion that it is not the responsibility of my employer to pay for my health care coverage. If they can negotiate a good premium by banding together with other business, that is one thing. For them to be required to pay any part of the premium, much less the majority of it, is quite a different matter. I know enough about my employer’s business to safely say; if his business falls under these requirements, he will be required to lay off several employees, in order to meet the mandates laid out in this legislation.

Can you imagine? My employer has made it through the worst economic period he can remember without laying off a single employee. In fact, he has actually added one employee. Yet through the mandates of the government, he may be required to reduce his workforce, just to meet their mandates. How that is a good thing escapes me.

One thing I find odd is the timing of the implementation of the bill. Once it is combined with the legislation coming out of the Senate and is signed into law by President Obama, it is not scheduled to go into effect until 2013. We may start seeing some of the effects earlier, but the main portions will be delayed. I have to wonder if this is because of the midterm elections coming up next year. If Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the ultra-liberals in Congress believe so strongly that America has to have health care reform, why are they waiting so long before it is actually implemented?

Conservatives, hear me well on this. We can not afford to waste our time on fighting against things that are not in this legislation. Let us hear no more about death panels and end-of-life counseling sessions. Instead, we need to focus on what the bill will actually do. There is much in H.R. 3962 to be concerned about and the more we focus on what is not there, the less we can focus on what is.

Tags: Employer Mandates, H.R. 3962, Health Care Reform, House of Representatives, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, United States Senate

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 12:21 pm and is filed under News/Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.