Isn’t Freedom the Ability to Choose? Why Is Health Care Any Different?

Anthony Gucciardi
www.AmericaReclaimed.com
November 28, 2009

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines freedom as “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action”. The absence of necessity, such as forcing a person to make a decision through force, or the restraint of other options. What if someone wants to make the decision to utilize their natural health options? Shouldn’t this be protected by our nation’s allegiance to freedom? Read the shocking details of the bill below.

While the idea of universal health care is an interesting one, based upon covering everyone so that they may have the options to pursue optimum health, this is not what the current health care plan is all about. In fact, the current health care bill, almost 2,000 pages long, is based on an insane medical hierarchical system in which younger patients are favored over older patients. Considering it’s length, most Americans will not read the bill. It remains to be seen as to every piece of information the bill contains, as it takes an understanding of “Washington-speak” to decode it in it’s entirety, but new information is coming out daily as to it’s contents. Beyond the skewed reasoning of the bill in regards to it’s “survival of the fittest” mentality, the bill also dictates what kind of treatment you will receive at the end of your life (Section 1233, P.430). Many are saying that there are indeed cases in which you may receive no treatment at all.

Economics of the bill

Aside from the medical aspect of the bill, it also sets wages for Doctors (Section 225 and Section 223). In some polls, 45% of Doctors said they would consider leaving their practice or retiring early if the health care bill was passed. The bill’s projected coasts are soaring higher and higher, some reports estimating 1 trillion is the final cost. Of course that means you will be forced to pay back the debt through massive tax increases and other lucrative money-making mechanisms that are established to pay for the horrible medical treatment the nation will be receiving. Furthermore, take a look at the points taken from the bill by Americans for Tax Reform.

Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).

Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.

Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).

Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)

Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.

Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.

Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.

Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act

Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.

Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.

Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.

So why would anyone want this?

This is a perfectly good question, with a surprisingly reasonable answer. The people do not know the technicalities of the bill, and simply go by what their favorite political figureheads tell them. In actuality though, support for the bill has gone down, with more and more people realizing what it actually holds. The people of the United States do not want their rights suffocated, they usually are just not informed about freedom-grabbing legislation to the degree they should be. Take the opportunity to inform your friends, family, and complete strangers about the health care bill, as it soon may be too late.

Related posts:

1. Flashback: What’s Really In the Healthcare Bill?
2. Living Healthy Without Pharmaceuticals: Does the Healthcare Bill Limit Our Ability to Choose?
3. Why U.S. Companies Are Broke: Health Care Costs Rising Another 9 Percent in 2010
4. Support for Repeal of Health Care Plan Up To 58%
5. Sebelius to Get “Unprecedented New Powers” Under Health Bill

Tags: choose, Freedom, health care

This entry was posted on November 28, 2009 at November 28, 2009 and is filed under Government and monetary, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.