Health Care Reform: It’s Enough to Make You Sick
(Reported by David Gorin, ARVC Public Affairs Consultant)
Seven months into the Obama Administration, the President is quite obviously committed to enacting his number one priority – some level of overhaul of the US health insurance and health care systems so that every American can be assured of adequate health care and so that the costs of receiving health care remains within reach of all Americans.
Recently ARVC conducted a survey of national and state industry leadership to try to measure sentiment for some of the major provisions of pending healthcare legislation. Can’t say that there are any surprises in the results as they mirror the anti-tax and anti-mandate sentiments of most small business people. Click here for rest of the article
The purpose of the survey was to see how ARVC members view the various reform proposals and to help the ARVC Public Affairs Committee determine if ARVC should be actively engaged in the health reform debate in Washington or should let the major small business groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business act and speak on behalf of the associations’ members.
Here’s a brief run down on the input provided by the survey respondents .
- Almost unanimously, the respondents opposed any government mandate to force business to either provide coverage at some level or pay a monthly fee into a federal fund.
- Two thirds of the respondents opposed a government sponsored program or company to compete with private insurers.\
- There was very strong sentiment opposing every employer to pay a tax (fee) based on payroll size and everyone is insured through a federal government program.
- Only one individual responded supporting taxing employer provided health benefits and using the tax income to provide insurance coverage for those everyone.
- The only question that garnered a favorable response was the question of whether the respondent favored or opposed a government mandate that required insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions. 60% favored a government mandate to require insurers to cover all pre-existing conditions.
- Approximately 75% of all respondents oppose any increase in federal income taxes or the imposition of a tax on the highest earning Americans with the increased tax revenue used to cover non-insured people.
It’s clear that RV park and campground owners as represented by this group are skeptical of government as a provider of health insurance or government’s role at all in health reform. This skepticism is no different than that felt by most smaller business people when it comes to government. Here’s where things stand now on health care reform.
First, the President and his Administration are 100% firmly committed to reforming how health care is delivered to Americans and to assuring that all Americans have access to quality health care as a right.
As the House went into the summer recess, the three principal House committees with jurisdiction over health care reform have finished their work. The Energy and Commerce Committee version contains many more pages than the Ways and Means and Education and Labor Committees’ versions which are roughly the same. Over the August recess, the House Rules Committee will attempt to perform a feat of magic and somehow decide what should be in the final version that is brought to the floor. Analysts (like Aubrey King and myself) see that holding the conservative Blue Dog Democrats and the liberal Democrats on the same bill is going to be quite a trick. It is highly unlikely any Republicans will vote in favor of the final bill so the Democratic leadership needs most of its party’s members singing from the same choir book.
Among the significant revisions was an adjustment to the employer mandate. In the original version, employers with less than $250,000 in payroll were completely exempt and employers with payrolls over $400,000 would pay an eight percent tax if they did not provide coverage to employees and their dependents.
The amendment to the House Energy and Commerce Committee altered the exemption/payroll table a follows: If the annual payroll of an employer for the preceding calendar year does not exceed $500,000, the applicable percentage is 0 percent, if the payroll exceeds $500,000, but does not exceed $585,000, the percent is 2 percent; if payroll exceeds $585,000, but does not exceed $670,000, the percent is 4 percent; and if payroll exceeds $670,000, but does not exceed $750,000, the percent is 6 percent. If payroll is over $750,000 the percent is 8 percent.
The Senate Health Education Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee has a mandate for employers of more than 25 employees to provide coverage for employees or pay a flat fee to the government.
What will the outcome be? I guess we’ll need to wait until September when all the players report on what they heard from their constituents in their home districts.
As they say, it’s not over until the Fat Lady sings . . .