Health Care Reform Vote - A Historic Date

Today, the House of Representatives will be voting on whether to pass what is being referred to as Health Care Reform. There has been much controversy surrounding this bill from the rules and procedures used to pass the bill to the claim that this bill will give government control over 1/6 of the country's economy.

I heard something on C-Span for the first time that I found personally disturbing and that I hope millions of Americans would equally find disturbing. In the bill the IRS would be the in control of determining what is an acceptable health insurance plan, tracking and punishing those who don't have coverage, subsidizing individual insurance plans with tax credits, and enforcing the rules on those who attempt to opt out, break the rules, or game the system.

The IRS would require individuals to attest that they have adequate coverage on their 1040 and that would be matched against 1099's that insurers would be required to submit to the IRS. Imagine the additional cost to your plan through this additional requirement. An individual who does not have health insurance for any part of the year will be penalized on a pro rata basis. So if your insurance lapsed and you went three months without insurance you would pay three twelfths of the penalty. The IRS could also offset your refund by this penalty. Think of the amount of time that the IRS and private employers will spend on validating employee coverage. The Congressional Accounting Budget office estimates this will increase the IRS budget by $10 BILLION to oversee health care. Can we really call something health care reform that involves a greater degree of intrusion by our government (IRS). I say no.

Just recently Caterpillar sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner urging them not to pass health care reform. Caterpillar estimates that this biil will drive up health costs by more than 20% or $100 MILLION - in the first year alone. Caterpillar said that while it supports health care reform this bill is not in the best interests of its 150,000 employees, retirees, and dependents they cover.

Caterpillar said the single biggest problem with the bill is that it would tax Medicare Part D. That cost of itself would put at risk the coverage that its current employees and retirees receive. Caterpillar spokesperson Bridget Young says that taxing Medicare Part D "would be a big enough disadvantage that it would likely cause some companies to change the way they provide prescription drug coverage for their retirees".

It seems that when two parties are so adamantly divided on a bill such as this and when so many backroom deals have been made to get votes, that what will get passed has a small chance of improving American lives.