Obama: McCain Wants to Tax Your Health Insurance

Last updated on August 11th, 2014 at 12:01 am

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https://www.politicususa.com/en/Obama-healthcare-taxes-mccainDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama hammered John McCain on the issue of taxes today, while speaking in Dover, NH. Obama specifically pointed out that McCain’s healthcare plan would tax workers’ health insurance benefits.

“And I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase – not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. My opponent can’t make that pledge, and here’s why: for the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits Apparently, Senator McCain doesn’t think it’s enough that your health premiums have doubled, he thinks you should have to pay taxes on them too. That’s a $3.6 trillion tax increase on middle class families. That will eventually leave tens of millions of you paying higher taxes. That’s his idea of change,” Obama said.

Obama also pointed out that McCain would give tax cuts to people making over $2.8 million a year, “Now I do want to be fair. Senator McCain is offering some tax cuts. He’d spend nearly $2 trillion over a decade in tax breaks for corporations. He would continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. His plan gives more than a half million dollars in tax cuts for households making over $2.8 million. That’s right – $2.8 million. Now I know that Senator McCain has said that only those making over $5 million a year are rich, so maybe he thinks that folks making $2.8 million are middle class.”

The reality is that the McCain healthcare plan is a privatization plan. Currently, employers receive a tax credit for offering health insurance, but McCain wants to eliminate that credit, so that employers stop offering health insurance, and people have to buy their own. Not only would you have to purchase your own insurance, but you would have to pay taxes on the premiums. This is McCain’s idea of healthcare reform.

McCain’s plan would actually lead to more people losing their health insurance. His plan does offer a tax credit, which people qualify for after they buy the policy. If you can’t afford the policy, you don’t get the tax credit, which means that millions more Americans would have no health insurance. These are the types of issues that Obama needs to hit home everyday to expose the real John McCain, not the guy who is hiding behind Sarah Palin.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association