Cadillac Tax Will Have Us All Driving Yugos

Have you heard of the terms “class envy” and “class warfare? ” Do you know what they mean? In a nutshell, class envy occurs when one group of people, usually those of limited financial means, is made to feel as though life is unfair and those who have more than they do have gained it through some sort of deceit or unscrupulous action. The victim of class envy hates the rich while at the same time secretly wishing he were one of them. Class warfare is the result of class envy, when positive groups of people are pitted against others as a means of taking from the rich to give to the poor. President Obama’s prosed tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans is just such a scenario. According to a recent column by Patricia Murphy on politicsdaily.com, a Maryland steel worker had this to say about the proposed Cadillac tax:

“The middle class can’t afford another tax. Let them get it from the Bush folks, the 1 percent that’s been enjoying the tax cuts. Get it from them.”

This attitude is class envy and warfare at their finest. The idea that taking money from the rich and re-distributing it is going to significantly improve anyone’s life is absurd. It has never worked in the past and will not work with the Cadillac tax on health insurance plans. It will only raise costs for everyone.

The idea, whose hard numbers I’ll get to in a little, is basically this: wealthy people, who can afford medical insurance to cover everything from a hang nail to open heart surgery, aren’t paying their aesthetic share into the health care system according to the wise thinkers in Washington, so the federal government will even the playing field by imposing a high tax on these insurance plans. Ever vigilant to watch out for the little guy, the government manages to kill two birds with one stone here. First, they make the rest of us feel first-rate by sticking it to the rich, and second, they have the extra money needed to allegedly pay for health care reform.

In an NPR interview back in December the President revealed his true thoughts while talking about taxing Cadillac plans. Apparently he believes the wealthy, like Goldman Sachs employees who pay $40,000 a year for their insurance, don’t need that worthy insurance. Mr. Obama implied in his statements that such excessively high insurance plans drive up the cost of insurance for everyone.

“I’m on record as saying that taxing Cadillac plans that don’t make people healthier but just take more money out of their pockets because they’re paying more for insurance than they need to, that’s actually a good idea, and that helps bend the cost curve,” he said. .”That helps to reduce the cost of health care over the long term. I think that’s a smart thing to do.”

Frankly dear readers, the idiocy of that statement is mind boggling. The successful treatment of many cancers, for instance, could wipe out a $40,000 premium in a matter of weeks. The fact that most of the wealthy will never use all of the services their insurance provides means more money is saved by insurance companies which, in theory, will help withhold costs down. Conversely, costs go up when the amount of money collected is less than what is spent; it’s simple 6th grade math, Mr. President. Furthermore, it is naive to absorb a Cadillac tax will carve the cost of health insurance for everyone or even “bend the cost curve”, whatever that means. The cost of the tax will be passed on to the employer who will then either pass it on to the employee or simply slice the employee coverage to a “standard” policy. Employees who find the cost of the tax passed on to them will drop the insurance and either pay cash or enroll in a less expensive plan.

Mr. President, how does this benefit? Is it your goal to drag down as many people from the top as possible, rather than lift as many people from the bottom up? It seems that way, sir. It seems as though you know full well what will happen when this health care reform bill becomes law and you want it that way. Is it possible, Mr. President, that you are purposely trying to destroy private health insurance and force every American to depend on the federal government? We both know the acknowledge to that question, now don’t we?

Anyway, back to the readers.

I said I would net to the hard numbers, so here they are. According to recent stories on foxnews.com and politicsdaily.com, the Democrats working on the health care reform bill want to raise income taxes on individuals making more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1 million. They also want to slap a 40% surcharge on insurance companies for all medical plans whose cost exceeds $8,500 for singles and $23,000 for families. According to numbers crunched by the Kaiser Family Foundation and reported by USA Today, the average cost of health insurance in the U.S. was $4,824 for individuals and $13,375 for families in 2009.

At first glance the numbers suggest the average American won’t be affected by the Cadillac tax, but that perception is dead detestable. The dilemma is, the average price listed by the Kaiser Family Foundation takes into fable not only standard plans, but also government subsidized plans and the evil Cadillac plans. There are far more Americans on government subsidized insurance than there are on the expensive premium plans. Furthermore, the cost of health insurance is not determined by how grand money you make. It is determined by risk factors such as age, health, occupational risks, plot, and so on. Plans that exceed the federal limits are not just for the wealthy; they are also for those who have a higher risk of heart disease, work in the construction industry, or live in a city with a high rate of cancer.

The last piece of this puzzle lies in the fact that the government won’t be taxing individual insurance plans; doing so would almost certainly mean most subscribers to the Cadillac plans would drop them and thus defeat the purpose. Instead, the surcharge will be levied against the insurance companies based upon the total amount of money collected under the expensive plans. The insurance companies, in order to not lose the business of their wealthier clients, will spread the tax out over all of their customers. That means you, the average Joe.

This Cadillac tax is such a bad idea even labor unions are opposed to it. That says something when the much labor lobby, which ordinarily supports socialist ideas like health care reform, opposes the tax arrangement. In many instances the health insurance plans of labor union members far exceeds the federal standards, as is the case with public school teachers in Connecticut. It’s no surprise that Obtain. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) opposes the tax as do many other Democrat and Republican members of Congress.

Regardless of how Sen. Reid, Rep. Pelosi, and Pres. Obama twist and stride the numbers, history has proved over and over again that increased taxes NEVER reduce the cost of anything; increased government regulation NEVER increases the efficiency and profitability of any business enterprise. Government only gets in the way and causes more problems. At the end of the day the Cadillac tax will only raise the cost of insurance for everyone, forcing more and more people on to government plans.

But then again, that’s the whole point.

Mr. Obama and his cronies want to destroy the Cadillac plans the wealthy enjoy along with the pick-up truck plans the average Joe enjoys, and force us all into health insurance Yugos. Is that what all of you Obama/Reid/Pelosi voters want? Is that what you voted for?

To the Maryland steel worker: How’s that hope and change working for you now?

Sources:
Obama Reportedly Urges House Dem Leaders to Accept Tax on ‘Cadillac’ Health Plans – Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum – FOXNews.com – http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582351,00.html

FOXNews.com – Sources: Obama OKs Taxing High-End Health Plans – http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/06/sources-obama-oks-taxing-high-end-health-plans/

‘Cadillac Tax’ in Health Belief Would Hit Middle Class Hard — Politics Daily – http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/17/cadillac-tax-in-health-plan-would-hit-middle-class-hard/

Average family health insurance policy: $13,375, up 5% – USATODAY.com – http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2009-09-15-insurance-costs_N.htm

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