Singularly important: One of the president’s suggestions is quite significant: he proposes to limit the value of tax deductions and certain exclusions for the top 3% of families to 28%. This means, for example, that if an individual were in the 33%, 35%, or 39.6% individual income tax bracket, the value of his or her deductions on the Schedule A of the Form 1040 - PLUS certain other exemptions INCLUDING THE EXEMPTION FOR EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTH COVERAGE - could not exceed 28%. This would be a signal event as it likely would start us down the long, dark road of whittling away at the health exclusion for everyone. (Note that the employee exemption for employer-provided health coverage is currently the largest single tax break for individuals on their federal individual income tax returns, eclipsing even the home mortgage deduction. Talk about a large target for revenue seekers!!!)
The President’s Budget Proposal for FY 2014: The emphasis in the president’s health care budget seemed to be on saving money rather than making large programmatic changes. For instance, you will be surprised to hear that the president does not appear to be in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Certainly he does not propose to end Medicare as we know it, and he makes few changes to Medicaid.
The document is also noteworthy in that the president does not propose an increase in the Medicare eligibility age, although on previous occasions he has seemed willing to contemplate a two-year increase, gradually raising Medicare’s eligibility age to 67 from 65. In addition, although it was expected to be part of this proposal, the president does not suggest unifying the deductibles in Medicare Parts A and B.
ERIC Members and Guests can read more here.
President’s budget proposal:
Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Overview
Analytical Perspectives
The Budget
General Explanations of the Administration’s Revenue Proposals (Green book)
House Budget proposal: http://budget.house.gov/
Senate Budget proposal: http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/index.cfm/senatebudget
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be aware that all comments are moderated before posting. As a result, there may be a delay between the time you submit a comment and when it is posted.