10 Reasons You Should Sign the Petition Calling for the Repeal of the Health Care Tax
A new tax on health care plans is threatening to hurt working people and their families. The 40% tax on many health care plans will lead to increased out-of-pocket costs for workers. You can go right now and add your name to a petition to members of Congress asking them to keep the Affordable Care Act affordable by supporting a repeal of the health care benefits tax.
Here are 10 reasons the health care benefits tax should be repealed:
1. Nearly 35% of health plans are taking action to avoid the tax, often by reducing benefits or shifting costs to workers.
2. Some 40% of employers surveyed said the plan will affect them when it goes into effect in 2018.
3. One-third of employers who expect to be required to pay the tax said they would increase out-of-pocket costs for consumers in order to avoid the tax.
4. Today, the vast majority of workers face deductibles, averaging more than $1,300 for single coverage. Even higher deductibles and other out-of-pocket spending requirements that will result from this tax will hurt working people and their families when they need medical care.
5. The tax disproportionately will hurt those who need the most care: women, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses.
6. More than 75% of those polled oppose the tax when they learn it “would likely cause employees to pay more out of pocket for health care services due to higher deductibles and co-pays,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
7. Repeal has bipartisan support, with more than 160 Democrats and 120 Republicans in Congress already expressing support.
8. More than 31 million nonelderly adults already are underinsured, according to a 2015 Commonwealth Fund study. The tax is likely to increase this problem.
9. Research shows high cost-sharing requirements already are keeping people with serious medical conditions from seeing the doctor and effectively managing their chronic illnesses.
10. Skipping needed care can lead to increases in the use of emergency rooms. About 70% of emergency room physicians report seeing patients who have private insurance but have delayed medical care because of high out-of-pocket expenses, co-insurance or high deductibles.
Go sign the petition.
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This has been reposted from the AFL-CIO.
