While gleaning through various articles on the Baucus vsn of the Senate Finance HealthCare proposal, I noticed one item that was mentioned as an afterthought:
We’ll need to assume that Forbes actually read the ‘slimmed down’ 223 page summary.
Let’s do a bit of simple math on that nugget.
According to the National Coalition on Health Care, the employees share is $3,354.40 per year.
I never allow lack of precise info to stand in the way of a thought, so let’s make a basic assumption; that the average across-the-board, combined Federal & State tax rates for the same group is 21%. So far:
3,354 x .21 = $704 (give or take)
ahhhhh, but there is more. This additional ‘income’ will also be taxes for FICA and Medicare.
3,354 x .0765 = $257 (give or take)
$704 + $257 = $961 in additional Taxes – per average, covered employee, per year.
Still not done. The Employer must match this incremental amount. Total damage?
$704 + $257 + $257 = $1,218.
So when we proudly hear our respected, elected Representatives proclaim “…. and there are no new taxes!”, they are certainly NOT lying. No new taxes, just more Old Taxes.
A good deal of our work is related to Employee Communications. If ‘whatever’ HealthCare bill gets passed AND it includes the above provision, then Employers should provide personalized communications to their employees. Personalized Knowledge Management.
More later. I may need to design a quick ‘product’.
