Opinion: Not only can we afford Medicare for All, but it could also deliver the biggest pay raise to the middle class
The system is opaque enough that workers can’t see such costs clearly, but they aren’t completely hidden. Health care costs are sometimes visible on your pay slip as the “employer contribution to medical insurance.” The full cost of employer and employee premiums is also usually reported on the W-2 form that you use to file your income taxes.
No government would out-of-the-blue impose a head tax to fund health care; it would be a crushing burden on the working and middle classes. And yet in essence that’s what the U.S. government does today by mandating that employers manage a huge head tax to fund health insurance for workers.If you see the health system this way, it changes how you understand the entire U.S. tax system.
The solution to this mess is simple: The head tax currently paid by workers in the form of mandatory premiums should be replaced by actual, normal taxes based on ability to pay. If employer-sponsored health insurance premiums were transformed into wages, that’s a $13,000 pay increase that each covered worker would get on average, the biggest pay raise in a generation, and one that is long overdue.
To address this problem, the government should legislate the conversion of employer health care premiums into a permanent wage increase at the time of the transition to Medicare for All. From the point of view of employers, this conversion would be neutral: for them, the cost of each worker would not change. Because health insurance premiums are already reported on W-2 forms and pay slips, this wage increase would be easy to enforce and monitor.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
How to Be a Writer and Still Get Really, Really Rich“People have their real-estate porn? For me, it’s when a book gets made [into a show or a movie]. I track the Amazon number and my mouth waters”
Leer más »
Tuca & Bertie Creator Lisa Hanawalt Hates All Gift Guides. Except This One.The art, books, and experiences that the Tuca & Bertie creator recommends for gifting this year
Leer más »
Thanksgiving Affords Nation Rare Opportunity To Eat Large Amounts Of Food While Watching FootballWASHINGTON—Noting that the nation’s long wait is now at an end, sources confirmed Thursday that the Thanksgiving holiday will grant millions of Americans the rare chance to eat incredibly large amounts of food while watching football games. “This kind of day doesn’t come around too often, so I’m excited to finally be able to sit back with family and friends over some delicious food and watch football for the entire afternoon,” said 34-year-old Arnold Dawson of Henrico, VA, echoing a sentiment held by Americans across the country who have come to cherish the lone day of the year when they can simply gorge themselves on enormous meals in front of a television showing nine hours of uninterrupted NFL coverage. “I mean, when else can you curl up in your living room with second or third helpings of food and watch a 12:30 p.m. game, a 4:30 p.m. game, and then an 8:30 p.m. game? It makes me wish Thanksgiving was every week.” Reports also confirmed that, by the end of the evening, the populace will already be excitedly thinking ahead to New Year’s Day, which will afford them an equally rare opportunity to shovel food into their mouths, watch a half-dozen college football games, and eventually pass out on the couch.
Leer más »
Some nursing homes are illegally evicting elderly and disabled residents who can’t afford to pay“I had retirement insurance, I had Medicare, I thought I was completely covered. That doesn’t count for anything … I had no idea, ' says nursing home resident Glenda Moore
Leer más »
Opinion: Metro is doing a bad job making transit habit-forming for AngelenosTransit riders receive neither consistency in service (which encourages repetition) nor an enjoyable ride (a reward).
Leer más »