The Bush proposal for a standard tax deduction for health insurance is now public, and more responses are rolling in. Click here for an overview of the proposal. Click here for White House refutation of statements critical of the proposal. Follow are excerpts from some reactions noted this morning:
“We strongly support a level playing field in which individuals can purchase health care coverage with pre-tax dollars. Currently the tax code fails to assist individuals unless they spend in excess of 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income on health care. Enacting common-sense tax incentives for individuals will go a long way toward helping millions secure and maintain the coverage they need.
“This plan also recognizes that states are an essential partner in any program to cover the uninsured. Federal incentives that provide a helping hand to states that tackle this problem are a great way to spur progress. This effort can also encourage states to re-examine costly mandates that limit health plans' ability to offer more affordable coverage options to consumers and employers."
--Karen Ignagni, President and CEO, AHIP
“...[O]ur laws shouldn’t prevent working Americans from obtaining affordable quality health coverage. I have always been supportive of plans that provide workers access to affordable health care and more ownership over their medical decisions. The proposal unveiled by the President tonight for increasing the number of Americans with health insurance sounds promising, and it deserves a full and fair hearing in Congress."
--House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
"We applaud the President for addressing America’s healthcare challenges in his State of the Union Address, specifically for noting the importance of the doctor/patient relationship and acknowledging that healthcare decisions should be made by them and not by government or insurance companies. However, it was disappointing that his approach focused entirely on tax code changes he feels will give more people access to health insurance. While tax changes may shift costs of care, they still accept the current model of care delivery--a fundamental focus on treating symptomatic illness. All research indicates that intervention at the point of diagnosis represents the highest cost of care and the greater potential for suboptimal outcomes. We believe there’s a bolder vision for America, namely a far great emphasis on prevention as the solution to our healthcare problems--putting in place programs, protocols and procedures that detect and treat health risks early, preventing them from becoming life-threatening diseases."
--Brian Baum, President and COO, U.S. Preventive Medicine
"The innovative plan is a major step toward improving the efficiency of the market for health insurance. By severing the link between work and insurance, it would offer everyone the same tax incentives to obtain insurance coverage and limit spending on health care. Whether it would succeed in meeting its objectives in a fair way is less clear.
"The new tax incentives will help some individuals to gain coverage. But they could also lead employers, particularly those in small firms, to discontinue health plans for their workers, some of whom would end up without insurance. Furthermore, by relying on tax deductions, the plan would continue to provide the largest benefits to high-income taxpayers and offer little or no financial incentive for low-income people who most need help paying for insurance."
--Leonard E. Burman, Jason Furman, Roberton Williams
Urban Institute
