[edited for clarification 032210]
The House on Sunday approved the health care bill, by a close but clear margin of 219-212. See Pear & Herzensohn, House Approves Health Care Overhaul, NY Times, Mar 21, 2010. The House passage of the Senate bill sends it to the president; House passage of a related set of amendments in the reconciliation package moves to the Senate where Reid says it will pass.
Should we be surprised that Rep. Rya didn't like the bill, calling it a "fiscal Frankenstein"--after all, Ryan's own budget proposals were a frightening mess of fiscal disasters that would result in huge tax cuts for the rich and significant tax increases for the poor and middle class so he has shown himself incapable of making good budgetary decisions in any form. He may be minority ranking member on the budget committee, but he is not anybody worth listening to when he speaks on fiscal policy issues.
Of course, this bill is important because it means that the Dems are finally willing to do something to change the health care status quo. But it doesn't do enough, and we will need to do much more before we will have resolved this issue. We need, ultimately, to diminish the role of health insurers in deciding who gets what kind of care and what it costs. As Rep. Kennedy said, "“Health care is not only a civil right, it’s a moral issue." Id.
The tax bill also includes revenue provisions that generally make sense (no bill is perfect), including most notably:
1) a surtax on "cadillac" employer-provided health care
2) new fees on some health industries
3) harmonization of the AMT and regular tax threshold for deduction of nonreimbursed medical expenses (moving the regular tax threshold from 7.5% of AGI up to the AMT's 10% of AGI in 1913)
4) an increase in the Medicare tax on earned income of 0.9% for couples with AGI over $250,000 (and individuals with AGI over $200,000)
5) a new Medicare tax on unearned income of 3.8% for couples with AGI over $250,000 (and individuals with AGI over $200,000), covering capital gains, dividends, rents, passive income but not qualified pension income.
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