Summary
Pros, cons of altering insurance tax exclusion Supporters say changing it could: * Slow growth in premium costs by encouraging less-expensive health insurance. * Provide financing needed for a health overhaul bill. * End the advantage of those who get health insurance through their jobs tax-free over those who buy insurance on their own, who dont. Critics say that changing it could: * Increase the number of uninsured people, if workers or employers drop coverage. * Result in higher deductibles or otherwise less- generous insurance. * Penalize people whose policies cost more simply because they work for small companies, live in high-cost areas or have a preponderance of sickly co-workers. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-care/policy research organization that isnt affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
WASHINGTON - If you work at a company that reimburses employees for joining a gym, you pay income taxes on the value of that perk. If you get life insurance through work, there's a good chance that you pay taxes on a portion.See the full content of this document
Extract
Congress considering tax on workers' health benefits
Health benefits could be next.
Lawmakers are considering taxing them to help pay for ambitious plans to overhaul the U.S. health care system, estimated to cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years. There's a lot of money at stake: Because health benefits are excluded from payroll and income taxes, the U.S. Treasury lost out on $226 billion last year, according to...See the full content of this document
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