U.S. lawmakers weigh beverage taxes in health revamp
By Donna Smith - Mon May 18, 12:56 PM PDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tax on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages and higher taxes on alcohol are among the options U.S. lawmakers will consider to pay for expanded healthcare coverage, a Senate report said on Monday
The beverage taxes were among the options outlined in a Senate Finance Committee report that panel members will review in a closed-door session on Wednesday.
Senators will look at a mix of taxes and cost savings to pay for a healthcare overhaul that aims to provide affordable medical coverage for all Americans, including an estimated 46 million who have no insurance.
Wednesday's session will likely be contentious as lawmakers search for politically palatable ways to finance health reform amid soaring budget deficits.
President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass the overhaul by the end of the year. He has called for a $634 billion "reserve fund" in his budget as a downpayment toward expanding coverage to the uninsured.
Many analysts believe the final cost is likely to be much higher. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, and other Democrats, argue that an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system is needed to control soaring costs.
"Without healthcare reform, healthcare spending will reach $4.4 trillion by 2018," Baucus said in a statement accompanying the release of the possible financing options.
The committee is expected to draft healthcare legislation next month with aim of winning Senate passage by August. The House of Representatives is working on a similar timetable.
Raising taxes on sweetened beverages would provide an added benefit in helping to fight obesity, which drives up healthcare costs, the committee report said. The proposal calls for no tax on artificially sweetened drinks.
Another option would raise taxes on all types of alcohol and apply a standard rate. Taxes now are lower for beer and wine, which are based on volume, than for distilled spirits, which are based on alcohol content.
Other options include limiting some of the current federal tax subsidies for healthcare, which amounted to $194.2 billion in 2008. In particular, lawmakers are looking at limiting a tax break for employer-provided health insurance, a proposal opposed by labor unions.
Lawmakers are also looking at cost savings in the Medicare and Medicaid health programs for the elderly and poor, including requiring high-income earners to pay more for their Medicare drug coverage.
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14 comments:
And this is news why? I for one am glad they're looking at everything to improve the quality of life and affordability of health care. When one in four children in this country are obease it's time to do something about it. These food and beverage companies are selling poison. There's nothing healthy about a can of soda with 27 grams of sugar. It's not about raising taxes...it's about raising awareness. Bravo.
Anon 10:50, If parents did their job and made their kids get away from the tv's, computers, video games, and limited their access to soda and such, we wouldn't need more government applied BS. What about personal responsbility and the freedom of choice?
people are goign to get buried under taxes. Continue to watch our economy crumble as the government raises taxes on everyone and more jobs are lost. The so called cap and trade will destroy small business in this country once and for all and is just another in a long line of tax increases the democrats are proposing.
anon 1050:
Everything the dumbocrats do is about raising taxes. We have to much government in our everyday lives. Governments function should be to protect us from harm and very little else. If you think government should run and our health care talk to the Canadians and Brits and ask them how government health care works. Thats why when they need a procedure quickly they come here to have it done, because they know there will be a long and possibly fatal wait in their own countries
Look parents don't do their jobs that's why we have a health crisis with the kids. This is just good government. Smoking kills that's why cigarettes are so heavily taxed. This crap they call soda and fast food are killing our kids. The national health care ramifications of all these fat kids with all the health and sickness issues that go along with it will criple our economy in the years to come. The intent is to change the eating habits of the kids and families while hitting the manufacturers of this garbage where it hurts...profit. There is no downside to this. You can't have your cake and eat it too when it comes to me paying for your bad habits. Think about it.
Its a given in a bad economy that while people cannot afford big ticket items they will still find money for small luxuries like sweets or a fine bottle of top shelf booze,and apparently the Government knows that and has found a tax "cash cow".Thanks guys!All you are doing is stifling consumer spending even more.
12:05
This is not about "health" This is about government redistributing money. The intent is to conitue taking our earned money!!
12:35, that is just dumb.
12:59
How so. you mean taxes are not about taking our money? they sure are not about health. If that was the case the government would not salivate at all the money they can earn, or think they can earn, by raising taxes. They then use this money for welfare or other social programs. that is redistribution!!
Whats next? Will they put in a credit care swipe in all our bathrooms so we have to pay to shower and potty?
1:08, you need a serious civics lesson. Taking our money? You pay taxes because you are part of something that has costs..a town, a city, a county, a state, a nation. Now to be part of that something you partake in the things that the something need to provide, infastructure, security, services..etc. So you see you not only have a "social" commitment but also a services commitment, an infastructure commitment. You see thses things don't just appear and exist out of nowhere, they need to be paid for. Nuf said.
Pretty soon the gov't will find a way to tax breathing, burping and other human bodily functions, it's just another way to make fair what they think is excess in some to equal out to the have-nots in others-REdistribution comes in many forms.
Thanks for the hyperbole 2:15. The posts here are a perfect example of why things don't get done in this country. The wingnuts respond to everything with anti Obama talking points and misinformation. We're talking about Americans being healthier and saving childrens lives, this equates to less healthcare costs, preventing another economic crisis caused by out of control healthcare costs. Simple economics.
3:51 pm You're talking the gov't coming in and telling you how to live, how to raise your children and a host of other things in the name of health and in a larger sense in the name of fairness...which is fine for you to want or believe in but not fine for a free thinking adult who likes the responsibility of making my own decisions. Why are most of the obese children in this country on welfare? or receiving some type of aid? Shouldn't we remove this form of aid, it's obviously unhealthy. So much for the gov't dictating how much a family should receive as bare substinence and aid since they don't any healthier than those of us who don't receive the aid. You can develop diseases from smoking, eating, working too much, working too little (apparently), sitting out in the sun, etc, should the gov't save lives and regulate all these things for us. Believe it or not, 96% of us will die-Ricky Bobby never explained what happens to the other 4%-why can't I die happy?
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