You know the state of health care in the U.S. is bad when President Bush is preparing to announce a plan that will increase taxes ““ anathema to Republican ideology ““ to combat the rising cost of health insurance. Yet he is planning to do just that in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Currently, employer-provided health insurance is treated as a tax-exempt benefit, which in effect is a sizeable tax cut for people whose employers offer it, since the average annual cost of health coverage for an American family is $11,500.
The Bush plan aims to create the same type of tax exemptions for low-income families who must buy their own insurance to make it more affordable ““ an egalitarian move the Daily Bruin Editorial Board wholeheartedly supports.
The second and more controversial leg of the plan would tax the workers with the cushiest and most expensive health insurance, capping the annual tax exemption for health insurance at $15,000 for a family and $7,500 for an individual.
The inequity in the current tax scheme is blinding ““ people with the Rolls Royce of health care get off tax-free, while families who struggle to buy their own insurance get no such tax break.
If Bush is going to stray from his long-held promise not to raise taxes, health care is certainly the place to do it. This plan is by no means the final solution to this nation’s health care dilemma, but it’s a good start.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Congress can see beyond petty politics and enact this much-needed policy.