Machinists Remain Opposed to Health Care Excise Tax

[IndianaGreen]

Machinists Remain Opposed to Health Care Excise Tax

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C., January 14, 2010 – Despite the so-called agreement announced today by various labor organizations, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) reiterated its opposition to any health care reform legislation that is funded by taxing the value of workers’ existing health care benefits.

“The IAM opposes the excise tax, period. We believe it is unfair to our current members and particularly unfair to those members we hope to organize in the future,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. “If a temporary exemption is the best this Congress can offer the American people after the promises of the last election, they will have earned the wrath of voters in the next election."

“By stringing this 'fix' out until 2018, our members will be pressured to agree to benefit cuts year after year in the vain hope they will be able avoid the excise tax. Companies will seek to shift costs while still cutting benefits to avoid eight years of health care premiums accelerating at fifteen to twenty percent per year.

“This is a huge ping pong ball that our elected leaders are trying to shove down the throats of hard-working Americans,” said Buffenbarger. “On the installment plan or all at once, a 40 percent excise tax on their health care benefits is hard to swallow. But the White House and the House and Senate Democratic leadership appear determined to play ping pong with this legislation until they get the votes they need.

“We will continue our opposition to this egregiously unfair tax.”

The IAM is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America, representing nearly 700,000 active and retired members in dozens of industries.

http://www.goiam.org/index.php/news/press-releases/6708-machinists-remain-opposed-to-health-care-excise-tax

[Captain Hilts]

1. For good reason. nt

[pleah]

2. K&R

[golddigger]

3. K&R

[karynnj]

4. This explanation ignores that WITHOUT the excise tax, you could have the

same increases in premiums. Nothing he says explains why the "premiums to go up 15 to 20 percent a year over the next 8 years" will happen due to the excise tax. The fact is increases of that size are simply not sustainable.

His comment is completely illogical. It is actually easier to make the case that exempoting the unions is unfair.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Taxing the rich and having a public option would make the excise tax unnecessary

that is what is in the House version, but the gods forgive that we burden our elites with anything.

[karynnj]

6. The problem is that the public option CAN NOT pass the Senate

I think the taxes should be rolled back on the wealthy and the estate tax resumed, but there are MANY things that money can and will be needed for. Here, the purpose of the tax is to effectively put a cap on premiums. It is completely unsustainable to have premiums rise the 15% or 20% a year that he is speaking of - even if it is based on what happened in the last decade.

Do you realize that with the 20 percent increase a year he is speaking of, for 8 years, the premiums will be slightly over THREE times what they are now? (compute 1.2 raised to the 8th) Now in those 8 years, there will be inflation, but no reasonable economist is speaking anywhere near 20%. If you assume everything else goes up 5% a year and healthcare, which is now about 16% of GDP goes up 20% a year, in eight years it would be around 27% of GDP. That is the ASSUMPTION he is speaking under.

[bornskeptic]

7. You're absolutely right in principal, but your numbers are off.

Actually, 1.2 to the 8th is about 4.3, so under these assumptions healthcare costs would be more than four times as high as today. Even under the extremely optimistic assumption that GDP rises at 5% per year, healthcare costs would be about 46% of GDP in eight years If we've gone this far, why not carry the absurdity to its logical conclusion? Under the same assumptions healthcare costs would be 100% of GDP in slightly under 14 years, but of course we would have all starved to death long before that.

[karynnj]

8. You're right - Thanks

[geek tragedy]

9. Moot point. HCR will die tomorrow night.

So, there will be no excise tax. Everyone wins.

:sarcasm:

[amborin]

10. kudos to the IAM!