Obamacare Roundup
US Sen Baucus: Health Bill Can’t Pass With Only Dem Votes
Employer Health Insurance Mandates: House vs. Senate
Under the House bill, employers with payrolls of more than $400,000 a year would have to provide health insurance or pay an 8% penalty. Companies with payrolls between $250,000 and $400,000 would pay lower penalties; smaller companies wouldn’t be subject to the mandate.
So if we do a quick, back-of-the-envelope calculation, we can imagine a 50-person company paying each employee $50,000 for a total payroll of $2.5 million a year. That company’s penalty under the House bill for not offering insurance would be $200,000, or $4,000 per employee.
The Senate bill’s $750-per-employee penalty, by contrast, would add up to $37,500.
Healthy Behaviors Could Cut Insurance Premiums in Senate Bill
We all know where this is going.
The bipartisan agreement by the Senate health committee, which came Monday night, says that employees who improve their health habits by eating well, losing weight and quitting smoking can receive a discount of up to 30% from companies offering group health insurance, should the bill become law. That discount could be boosted to much as 50% by the Obama administration. Currently, the law limits the maximum discount to 20%.
WaPo: House health-care surtax “bad policy”
The House: Tax the Wealthy to Keep Everyone Healthy
Arguments against universal health care
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