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healthcare reform

Cars or people: Which is important enough to insure?

March 22, 2010 by Zane Safrit with 221 views

Which is more important insure? Cars or people?  Judging from mandatory auto insurance laws you’d have to say cars were more important. Otherwise, why would their insurance be mandatory? There’s even pools created for policy owners whose driving records makes their insurance too expensive. These laws and high-risk pools have been... [read more]

Health insurance reform does matter

January 18, 2010 by Zane Safrit with 1,302 views

That seems obvious. But reminders of the obvious kind come in handy. These reminders are imperative in a conversation like we have about health care reform, health insurance reform. The Health Care Blog shares a personal story that covers all the points of why health insurance reform is necessary. The post is Why health insurance... [read more]

Cost of not reforming health care

October 2, 2009 by Kay Bell with 209 views

Unless you're fighting off the swine flu, you're probably sick of medical talk. Even then, you likely just want a prescription and to be left alone.But regardless of how you're feeling, please bear with me a little bit longer as I update you on the effort to reform the U.S. health care system. Yes, it is finally moving on Capitol Hill.... [read more]

Public Option May Become Only Option for Small Business

October 1, 2009 by Jeff Cornwall with 112 views

Under the Senate plan to overhaul our healthcare payment system, small businesses may end up with no choice but to adopt a public "option."  Beginning in 2013, all plans that cost more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families would be subject to the high cost plans tax of 40%. Since small employers face higher premiums... [read more]

Senate health care, take two

September 23, 2009 by Kay Bell with 161 views

OK, I'm not going to post every time there's a proposed change to health care reform legislation. I could spend 24/7 doing that, driving both me and y'all crazy(ier).But since I've given the Senate version, originally announced last week and now being debated in the Senate Finance Committee, a lot of attention, I did want to share some... [read more]

Senate health bill to get major surgery

September 22, 2009 by Kay Bell with 108 views

The Senate's tax committee will begin dissecting the chairman's health care reform proposal at 9 a.m today. Expect the bill to come out of the legislative surgery with substantial changes.The bill unveiled last week by Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, D-Mont., actually has already undergone a bit of a makeover. Baucus... [read more]

Fixing Health Care for Small Business

September 18, 2009 by Barry Moltz with 211 views

It doesn’t get any crazier than the debate over health care and my radio show proved it! Nothing has riled the public so much this year than the heath care debate. It’s 1/6th of the economy and everyone has an opinion. In 2006, we spent $2.1 Trillion in Health Care - more than we spent on food, almost as much as the worldwide... [read more]

Tax reform's lesson for health care

August 30, 2009 by Kay Bell with 172 views

"Whenever Congress undertakes large-scale reform, there are times when disaster appears certain — only to be averted at the last minute by the good sense of its sometimes unfairly maligned members."That's the assessment of Bill Bradley, a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey, as well as a former tax loophole for the New York Knicks.In a... [read more]

More Evidence of a Long Recession Ahead

August 6, 2009 by Jeff Cornwall with 124 views

William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, issued the following statement on July job numbers based on NFIB's monthly economic survey that will be released on Tuesday, August 11: "Seasonally adjusted, there was a decline in average employment per firm of 0.81 workers reported during the... [read more]

Tax Increase Threat as Negotiating Ploy?

August 5, 2009 by James Maule with 153 views

When the news broke on Sunday that two members of the Obama Administration refused to rule out tax increases for the “middle class,” all sorts of static swirled through the blogosphere. For example, the Lonely Conservative took the refusal to rule out such a tax increase as proof that there would be such a tax increase. At The Plain... [read more]

Cosmetic surgery tax talk

July 28, 2009 by Kay Bell with 132 views

There's word out of D.C. that some lawmakers want the country's beautiful people to pay for healthcare reform. To be precise, they want the beautiful people who got their good looks thanks to plastic surgery to pay. According to the Drudge Report (via Tax Policy Blog), Senate Finance Committee members have discussed imposing a 10... [read more]

One Thing is Certain in the Health Care Debate: Change is Needed

July 27, 2009 by Barry Moltz with 254 views

Health Insurance for Small Business owners is killing their companies. For most owners, it is the number 2 expense after payroll (even ahead of rent)! In managing our costs during these tough times, we can do a lot to bring down our largest expenses such as our employees and rent, but what do you do about health care? Most owners have “... [read more]

Healthcare on our Entrepreneurial Minds

July 27, 2009 by Jeff Cornwall with 160 views

The healthcare debate, especially as it will impact small business, is all the buzz in Washington and around the country. Rita Gunther McGrath has a well argued post at her blog about the impact of higher taxes needed to pay for socialized healthcare and the inevitable regulatory burdens that it will create. Here is an excerpt: Well,... [read more]

Government is Failing Small Businesses (and Yet Expects So Much More from Us)

July 24, 2009 by Rob Levin with 84 views

For years, I have tried to ignore the government, particularly as a small business owner. I never viewed the government as a resource to help small businesses; in fact, the government probably only hurts small businesses. However, I don’t think that we can ignore government anymore, and here’s why. At the time I am writing this (mid-... [read more]

Still shifting healthcare surtax sands

July 23, 2009 by Kay Bell with 67 views

"Watching Barack Obama trying to push members of Congress toward some kind of agreement on a health care bill gives you a new appreciation for why Hillary Clinton decided to just write the whole thing herself and dump it on them." -- Gail Collins, The Health Care SausageDuring a primetime national television press conference last night... [read more]

Fewer rich, less healthcare surtax money?

July 22, 2009 by Kay Bell with 89 views

If the numbers from a recent wealth survey are correct, then the healthcare surtax might be on shaky ground. Financial Advisor magazine, the publication for, you got it, professionals who offer financial advice, says that the number of wealthy individuals in the United States is dwindling. (Thanks to Twitter buddy CPA_Trendlines for the... [read more]

Who's not invited to the healthcare reform debate? Us

July 20, 2009 by Zane Safrit with 121 views

You and I. We're not invited. As consumers or voters. Oh sure, we, healthcare consumers and voters, are invited to sit back and watch. But we're neither invited nor allowed to participate in the conversations with the decision-makers. The recent White House Summit on Healthcare Reform held in March invited all the experts who have built... [read more]

Healthcare surtax not progressive enough

July 19, 2009 by Kay Bell with 149 views

That's a headline -- and taxation approach -- that's sure to kick the already contentious healthcare reform debate up a notch. Frank Pasquale, writing in Concurring Opinions, says that beneath all the sturm und drang about soaking the rich with a healthcare surtax proposed in the House bill, the focus should be on three underlying... [read more]

State + federal health tax = 50%-plus rate

July 15, 2009 by Kay Bell with 111 views

Healthcare reform begins in earnest now that House Democratic leaders have officially introduced a $583 billion bill to pay for the overhaul.Money, as usual, has been the biggest hurdle so far. Lawmakers have been struggling to come up with ways to pay for expanding medical coverage to the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans. Details... [read more]

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