This week, the internet is abuzz about a provision included in The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act that expands reporting requirements related to forms 1099. As per usual, there’s some good information out there and some bad… Let’s see if we can’t sift through it. The…
For months now, both sides have been firing shots in the health care reform debate. Despite the fact that we now have a signed bill, many of the details are yet to be worked out and that causes concern that the bill will either be overworked or under reaching; my best guess is that it’s…
I’ll confess that I got up today with a bit of fear and trepidation. You see, I had been assured by both sides of the health care reform debate that no matter the final tally, the world would end after the health care vote. Remarkably, Earth is still spinning this morning. The health care reform…
Beer drinkers in the Mountain State are struggling to raise revenue in a bad economy. Some members of the state’s legislature think they have a solution: tax beer. West Virginia House Health and Human Resources Committee Chairman Don Perdue, who sponsored the bill, says that an increase in the tax is necessary. His plan to…
The debate about health care reform is starting… again. Here’s why. The Senate passed a bill and the House passed a bill. They have some significant differences to work out. Two of the biggest issues? Paying for the thing and abortion. Neither of those discussions will prove to be an easy task. But for all…
That collective sigh of relief that you just heard? It was Hollywood, taking comfort in the fact that the cosmetic surgery tax is off the table in the race to pay for health care reform. But don’t start laughing just yet, George Hamilton. It’s been replaced with a 10% tax on tanning services. And yes,…
Remember this post about taxing plastic surgery? Well, it appears that the Senate, in its effort to tax everything possible to pay for health care reform (you’re right, I’m exaggerating, not everything… health insurance companies will make out okay) is forging ahead with its plan to tax cosmetic surgery. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced…
I just received a notice last week from my health insurance provider that rates at my office would be increasing an average of more than 25%. It’s not unexpected. Apparently, health insurance is one of the few industries which can regularly raise their prices by double digits each year without retribution. But what is unexpected…
This week, 157 House Democrats (which for math junkies like me, who want to know the actual percentage of House Dems who signed, it’s 62%) signed a letter which put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on notice that an excise tax on high-cost health care insurance plans is not acceptable. Those who signed the letter…
Donna Peeples writes: I have seen a lot of articles in the paper about taxing sodas and foods that are bad for you. I say, “Why not?” I used to be a smoker. At one point, I was up to two packs a day. When New Jersey raised their cigarette tax, I stopped because my…