Senate considering payroll tax

Sen. Reid is apparently considering a payroll tax increase on persons making over $250,000....not clear if this is for Medicare....or to replace tax on hi cost health insurance....or is extra finance.

If it is replacing hi cost health insurance tax, that is bad news for cost control. If it is to put more into Medicare, I would rather means test Medicare benefits for higher income folks, I think. Obviously need to see the details.

The House bill does not have much that is promising in the in the way of slowing health care inflation. The Baucus bill has the high cost insurance tax which is a convuluted way of limiting the tax exclusion of employer paid insurance....but it is a start. If that goes out, then that is not so good.

Also, a realistic goal is to slow the rate of cost inflation. So, when people say 'will my premiums go up?' of course they will. They will skyrocket if we do nothing, as they have the last 10 years. If they go up less fast, that is success. I don't know of any nation ever that literally spent less one year than they had the year before other than the Soviet Union after in broke apart. Savings= slowing the rate of growth. Put another way, we will spend $35 Trillion on health care from 2010-19 if we do nothing. If we spent less than what is projected sans any reform, that is a success.