‘Medicare Tax’ Now to be Called ‘Unearned Income Medicare Contribution’
By Olga Pierce
ProPublica, March 24, 12:27 pm
The payroll tax increase that was formerly known as “Medicare tax” in both President Obama’s health care reform reconciliation proposal and the original House reconciliation bill is NOT A TAX. Repeat: NOT A TAX.
Sure, individuals with earnings over $200,000 and couples with earnings over $250,000 will have to fork over 3.8 percent of their capital gains (which were not formerly subject to Medicare taxes) to Medicare, in addition to .9 percent more of their earned income.
Medical Tax Eliminated
But, among the 15 pages of changes to the Reconciliation Act [1] included in the manager’s amendment [2] released over the weekend was a wee name change: references to ‘Medicare tax’ were deleted, and replaced with the much gentler, and voluntary-sounding, ‘unearned income Medicare contribution.’
We called Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office for more insight, and will pass along anything we hear back.
For a look at all the changes that the reconciliation bill would make in the health care reform law, check out our side-by-side comparison [1].
- http://hcr.propublica.org/document/show/1.html
- http://docs.house.gov/rules/hr4872/111_managers_hr4872.pdf
Assessment
Conclusion
Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.
Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
DICTIONARIES: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
PHYSICIANS: www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com
PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
BLOG: www.MedicalExecutivePost.com
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
Filed under: Alerts Sign-Up, Health Insurance, Health Law & Policy, Taxation | Tagged: healthcare reform, Medicare Tax, Obama care, Reconciliation Act, Unearned Income Medicare Contribution | 1 Comment »