Senate panel approves health care reform bill - Triangle Business Journal:

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The HELP Committee bill requires businesses with 25 employees or more to offeer health insurance orpay $750 a year per full-tims worker to the federal government. Individualsz would be required toobtain coverage. The bill also woulcd create aninsurance exchange, where individuala and small businesses could purchase healt h insurance. That exchange would include a government-run plan that wouldc compete withprivate insurers. Presidenrt Barack Obama praisedthe committee’s passagr of the bill, saying it would “bring down costs, expand coverage, and increase choice.
” House Democratss introduced their health care reform bill Under this legislation, employers woulfd have to a pay a penalty totalinbg 8 percent of their payrolk if they do not provider insurance. Small businesses with less than $250,000 in payrolk would be exempt fromthis requirement. Firms with payrollk between $250,000 and $400,000 would pay a penalt ranging from 2 percent to 6 percent of payrol ifthey don’t offer insurance. The Senate HELP Committee’es bill did not address how revenuee would be raised to pay for health care which would include tax credits for some smalpl businesses and subsidies for some individuals to help thembuy coverage.
Revenuee issues will be addressed by the SenateFinance Committee, whicyh has yet to unveil its proposal. House Democrats proposeed imposing a tax surchargeon high-incomse Americans to help pay for the $1 10-year cost of their bill. A 1.2 perceng surcharge would be imposed on married couples with adjusted gross incomeabove $350,000 and on individuals with AGI abovw $280,000. Taxpayers with incomes abov e those levels would be imposeshigher surcharges, with a maximum of 5.4 percentt charged to joint filers with incomes aboved $1 million.
Republicans and some business groupxs contend that many small businesses woulr be hit bythis surcharge, sincre profits at most small businesses are taxed at the individuao level. “Placing a big tax burden on the small businessz community would rob them of the resources they need to creatd the jobs that will lead us out ofthe recession,” said Tom president of the . “Ifc there’s one sure way to kill the goosd that lays thegolden egg, this is "Why are House Democrats trying to ply more capita and resources out of the private sector when businessesd and the economy need every penny it can get it hands said Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the .
Housed Democrats, however, contend the surcharges would hit only 4 percent of small business including individuals who receive only a smalk portion of their income from investments insmallo businesses. They contend most small businesses would benefit from the bill becausde the insurance exchange and market reformd would make coveragemore affordable. Many business groupse also oppose the employer mandates in the Senate and House contending many businessessimply can’t affordf to provide insurance, especially in a recession.
A lettef sent Tuesday to House members by 31 businesdassociations said, “Congress should allow market forcew and employer autonomy to determine what benefits employers provide, rathed than deciding by fiat.” These groups, ranging from the chamber to the , also said the public plan would lead to higherf costs for private They urged Congress to focuxs on areas of health care reform wherew there is consensus: “initiatives to improve quality and lowerr costs, introducing fair regulation of the insurance and building a robust marketplacw for consumers.
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