Thursday, December 17, 2015

Omnibus spending bill includes $12 billion tax break for health insurers that is bigger than the cancelled risk corridor bailout...

RONO Republicans gloat about killing the the bailout/subsidies for insurance companies losing money on Obamacare plans, but they put a tax break in the Omnibus spending bill that feeds insurance companies $12 billion dollars. This amount is larger than the bailout amount would have been. Do you feel like Republicans are lying to you and deceiving you? You should.
Here’s the Obama administration’s playbook: First, pass a law requiring the public to buy insurance-company products. Then impose big penalties on anyone who doesn’t buy. Finally, when insurers still can’t make money, bail them out using taxpayer dollars.
Outrageous. Fortunately, Republicans in Congress showed backbone and refused to go along. By the end of last week, the bailout idea was dead.
Behind the scenes, the White House and insurance-industry lobbyists continued to press Congress for special concessions to insurers.
With all that pressure, Congress’ principled stand started to crumble. The omnibus bill reportedly contains a huge tax concession to the same industry.
Money is fungible, and this rewards the same players. The new deal suspends the health-insurance tax for a year. That tax applies to all health-insurance policies, not just ObamaCare. It was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act to help pay for it.
Suspending the tax is in effect handing the industry an estimated $12 billion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, exceeding even what insurers would’ve received in a bailout.

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