BluntPolitics.com

By Ric Joyner, CEBS, GBA

I remember in 1994 when “Hillary Care” was collapsing under it’s own weight because the change was too massive. This appears to be happening again. However, this time, President Obama has opened several “change” fronts.The list starts with Health Care Reform (1-3,500,000,000,000 [let the zeros sink in] ) in new expenses. Next is “Cap and Trade” which is a European form of energy tax. What this means for average Americans is higher energy usage taxes on electricity and gas. In Germany, where Cap and Trade is underway the average German family saw their electric bill go up 25%. Some in DC are saying this is the largest tax increase in American history, in the name of Global Warming.

Left wing view of cap and trade. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/01/capandtrade101.html

Right wing view of cap and trade. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm1723.cfm

Another new new front is for comprehensive immigration reform. These are bold and strategic steps the President is taking. In summary, when a president attempts to take on more change fronts the projects tend to fall apart or become minimized. In my opinion I hope that the taxation of employee benefits is laid to rest including elimination of Flexible Spending Accounts, which is our livelihood as well as 1.3 million employees and 48,000,000 participants (1-6 Americans).

Jobs are being lost at a record pace and this is forcing down the presidents poll numbers. The stimulus bill dollars are slow to funnel into the economy which now has created further angst on those waiting to get funding for projects and put people to work. Ahhh…the government is so efficient. I can’t wait for my health care to be provided by a bureaucrat!

Senate now is 60% Democrat with the seating of Al Franken, which means they have majority control and  this can  means the Dems can pass bills faster. For Obama’s agenda this is strategic coup! However, your voice is now more important than ever. Your representative is accountable to you as a voter and they want to hear your comments or concerns. Get a plan and work the plan.

Good news from an NAPBA member who is educating their representatives. An mail report came in this week on status of their representative who sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

Yesterday, we spoke with Geri Gaginis, Senator Conrad’s Executive Assistant regarding setting up a meeting with Senator Conrad in DC.  Geri told us that with the markup of the health care reform bill starting next week, he won’t have time but that she does not think we need to be concerned about the issue of FSAs, HSAs and HRAs under health care reform.  She stated that both Kate Spaziani and Dana Halvorson are very close to the action and confirmed that both Kate and Dana believe that FSAs, HSAs and HRAs will remain a viable option under health care reform. 

Suzanne Rehr

Executive Vice President

Discovery Benefits, Inc.

 

Newsletter from our Attorney:

Clients and colleagues:

As we approach the July 4th holiday, Congress and key players in health care reform are still debating about the three key issues - an employer mandate, taxation of employer-provided health care benefits and a public plan option.  No substantial developments have emerged on any of the three fronts, and none is expected until Congress reconvenes after the holiday.  However, a number of other developments have emerged including the following:

• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored the Senate’s draft bill at a cost in excess of $1.6 Trillion over 10 years, but recently the Senate Finance Committee believes it can scale down the the bill to $1 Trillion.  This leaves one-half to two-thirds of the bill with no revenue offset, because even taxing employer-provided coverage is only expected to raise approximately $250 -$500 Billion over 10 years.
• Wal-Mart has sent a letter to President Obama supporting employer-provided coverage and an employer mandate (see attached).

Have a great Holiday.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

The KS Health and Welfare Team

Mark L. Stember
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
607 - 14th Street, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005-2018
202.508.5802 (P)
202.585.0018 (F)
mstember@kilpatrickstockton.com

The job of educating our representatives is up to us. Getting the word out to clients, your employees and participants is crucial. The tools to do this are located at: www.napba.og

eflex is adding this survey to our emails and you can too. Our employees are adding this to their emails: Do you like your flex plan? Please complete this survey.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229BAUR6MBCs

Good luck and don’t let others do all the heavy lifting…make your opinion heard.

June 19, 2009

By DAVID HOGBERG
Investor’s Business Daily

Even as health care reform slows in the Senate over huge program costs, House Democrats doubled down Friday, betting on a more-expansive plan while offering few clues on how to pay for it.

Members from the House Ways and Means; Education and Labor; and Energy and Commerce committees released a “discussion draft” bill that reads like a reform wish list that will appeal to the Democrats’ base. It includes a public plan, a Medicaid expansion, subsidies for those up to 400% of the federal poverty level, and individual and employer mandates. Democrats expect it to cover about 95% of Americans.

It also might prove more costly than those of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that those bills would each cost over $1 trillion, while leaving tens of millions of people without coverage.

That sent Baucus back to the drawing board, announcing his Finance Committee would delay its hearings until after July 4.

He isn’t the only one pushing dates back. President Obama has backed off his July 31 deadline for getting a reform bill to his desk.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise that this is going to take some time to do. It’s an issue that we’ve been discussing for 40 years,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. “The president isn’t pessimistic about being able to get this through Congress this year.”

House Bill’s Cost Unknown

The CBO has yet to score the cost of a public plan or increasing Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level, as the House Democrat plan proposes.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said, “We’re going to pay for this bill. We’re going to pay for it by cutting down on expenditures in public programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and by reforms in the system that will hold down costs for everyone. And we’re going to pay for it with revenues.”

On the latter point, Ways and Means and other House panels are mulling a variety of tax hikes to pay for health care, including a value-added tax and a soda levy.

Tax hikes could be politically poisonous and cut the legs out from a tentative economic recovery. But the public also is increasingly worried about soaring budget deficits.

Also, a health plan would need 51 Senate votes if it’s fully paid for — but 60 if it’s not.

A previous CBO report concluded that some Democrat reforms would save money. The employer mandate and community rating would increase federal revenues by $48 billion and $5 billion, respectively, over 10 years. Requiring drugmakers to give the same rebate to Medicare Part D that they give to Medicaid would save $110 billion.

But the Democrats’ plan increases costs by closing the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D and eliminating annual Medicare physician payment cuts. CBO estimated that doing the latter would cost at least $318 billion over 10 years.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, was noncommittal on the cost of reform.

“We haven’t figured out exactly where we want that line to be,” he said when asked if the House would have to keep the cost at about $1 trillion. “A lot may depend on the level of cuts and savings. We don’t have CBO scores, so we really can’t say at this point.”

Baucus Balks

CBO scoring compelled Sen. Baucus to rework his plan. A new draft leaked to the media showed he had cut subsidies from 400% of poverty to 300% and Medicaid’s expansion from 150% of poverty to 133%.

Liberal Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein took the CBO score of the Baucus plan as a bad sign. “(H)ealth reform has just gotten harder. The hope that we could expand the current system while holding costs down appears to have been just that: a hope.”

At least one key House lawmaker seems unfazed.

“Everything is on the table. Nothing is locked in cement,” said Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. “I’ve been here a long time. We’ve got momentum.”