Fwd: Obamacare Taxes: Deep Impact

Obamacare Taxes: Deep Impact   During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama pledged often and everywhere that Americans making less than $200,000 individually or families making less than $250,000 would not see an increase in their taxes. However, by signing into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, President Obama has officially turned his back on that promise. The Scoop The Rollout of Taxes for Obamacare   The Obamacare Sales Pitch Paid for by Your Tax Dollars    Obamacare: Impact on the Family   Medicare and Medicaid Spending Will Rise with Increasing Health Care Costs   State Health Care Reform: An Update on Utah's Reform As the Heritage Foundation's Senior Tax Policy Analyst Curtis Dubay points out, the impact of Obamacare on taxpayers will spread wide and cut deep. Overall, 18 new taxes were slipped into this bill, raising $503 billion over a 10-year period to cement Democrats' dubious claim of budget neutrality. Chief among these taxes are: • 40 percent excise tax on health insurance plans • Increase in the Hospital Insurance (HI) portion of the payroll tax • Payroll taxes on investment income • Mandates on individuals and businesses to purchase health insurance, enforced with penalties in the event of non-compliance In another move that smacks of politics as usual, Democrats have made sure these taxes and fees are not implemented until after their re-election campaigns. Almost all of these provisions take effect after the 2010 midterm elections, and the vast majority will not occur until after the 2012 presidential campaign, insulating Obama and congressional Democrats from the resulting political pressure. The greatest increase occurs in 2013, when Obamacare tax revenues triple from $12 billion to $36 billion, ultimately hitting $102 billion in 2019. Many of the new taxes will be targeted at medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, and even indoor tanning salons, all of which will be passed on to consumers. Many large employers have already gone public on how these new taxes will affect them, citing job losses, decreases in offered benefits, or jobs going overseas as the likely results. Other provisions, such as restricting how much Americans can set aside in their health savings accounts and flexible savings accounts, will increase the amount paid in income taxes by low- and middle-income Americans. Enactment of the new health care law will prove a steep price to pay for taxpayers, even though Democrat legislators and the President have done their best to protect themselves from the electoral fallout. As Dubay explains: "Over time, the hodgepodge of new taxes in effect now or in the future will substantially slow economic growth and affect taxpayers from all walks of life. This will become most apparent in lost wages and international competitiveness… These lost wages, largely out of the pockets of low- and middle-income families, represent a huge cost of this legislation that does not show up in any official tables, but this cost is every bit as real. It reduces families' incomes just as surely as an income tax hike would and breaks the promise that President Obama made when he said he would not raise their taxes." forward message   or visit our website   The White House has launched a taxpayer-funded Web site to "reality check" credible criticisms and arguments. Problem is the Obama administration's videos "debunking" each "myth" are low on facts. Click here to see our response.   Facebook Twitter YouTube The Heritage Foundation - 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC Call us at 202 546 4400