Monday, August 9, 2010

Whaddaya wanna cut?

Nothing apparently for Republican leaders in Congress. Eric Cantor (minority whip) waxing on about needing to cut spending but identifying no spending he would cut. I think the 'pay for' for extending all the tax cuts that are set to run out on Dec. 31, 2010 because they were enacted via budget reconciliation is around $800 Billion over 10 years. Here are two very simple suggestions that won't quite get there but will be a start:

*cap the tax exclusion for employer paid health insurance premiums at the national mean premium level of ~$13,500 for family cover and corresponding single cover (~$5,000). This will reduce the deficit by around $500 Billion over 10 years. This would make those of us (like me) with employer sponsored insurance pay attention to our health insurance like never before.

*raise the Medicare eligibility age by two months per year staring in 2014 until it reaches age 67 by 2025. This will save about $50 Billion over 10 years, but much more in the long term. And in 2014 there will be income based subisidies for the uninsured to purchase private cover in the exchanges.....

No comments:

Post a Comment