Health Savings Account-Health Savings Account Info

PaRtY 2012 -One Down Two to Go asked:


The lowest bracket for the personal income tax, for instance, moves up 50% — to 15% from 10%. The next lowest bracket — 25% — will rise to 28%, and the old 28% bracket will be 31%. At the higher end, the 33% bracket is pushed to 36% and the 35% bracket becomes 39.6%.

But the damage doesn’t stop there.

The marriage penalty also makes a comeback, and the capital gains tax will jump 33% — to 20% from 15%. The tax on dividends will go all the way from 15% to 39.6% — a 164% increase.

Both the cap-gains and dividend taxes will go up further in 2013 as the health care reform adds a 3.8% Medicare levy for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and joint filers making more than $250,000. Other tax hikes include: halving the child tax credit to $500 from $1,000 and fixing the standard deduction for couples at the same level as it is for single filers

as of midnight Dec. 31, the death tax returns — at a rate of 55% on estates of $1 million or more. The effect this will have on hospital life-support systems is already a matter of conjecture.

But even more tax headaches lie ahead. This “second wave” of hikes, as Americans for Tax Reform puts it, are designed to pay for ObamaCare and include:

The Medicine Cabinet Tax. Americans, says ATR, “will no longer be able to use health savings account, flexible spending account, or health reimbursement pretax dollars to purchase nonprescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).”

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=541131&obref=outbrain

Heck lets FORCE all registered Democrats to reimburse us not just the nitwits in congress. Maybe we generate a registration tax.

Collette Bagwill

PaRtY 2012 -One Down Two to Go asked:


for my daughters braces in two years?

Congress radically cuts the annual contribution to flexible health-care spending accounts from $5,000 to $2,500 and limits deductions of catastrophic health-care expenses. Both moves promise hardship for families that face costly, chronic medical conditions. Half of those who take advantage of the medical-
expense deduction earn less that $50,000 a year

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obamacare_wins_TeY4JN6V6eJk9ALVwmPYbK#ixzz0vFbOg6Jn

Franco: You are kind of right[

Its about my daughter
Glenn: I guess i had better, so I can pay for you and other Democrats to sit on your collective arse’s all day
Franco proves my point: Onamacare needs to be pulled and any Democrat sponsered bill tabled until people get into office who actaully listen to the people
Glenn: your xray show your brains are leaking.. Try one this link from the libby NYT
And there is another big flex-spend change ahead: starting in 2013 the annual limit that any employee may contribute to these plans will be restricted to $2,500. Many companies had allowed much more.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/health/17patient.html?_r=1

Obama: I just shot him an email. When he decides to rant, I’ll be sure and post the gist.

Kittie Dixey

RLP asked:


Obama liberal sheep to cheat the government on medicaid and entitlements?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/15/new-health-care-rules-require-doctors-note-pay-otc-drugs-fsas/

Under the new health care law, consumers using workplace pre-tax health savings accounts
will soon need a doctor’s note to pay for Tylenol and an estimated 15,000 other over-the-counter drugs.
Obama to Spend $10.3 Trillion on Welfare: Uncovering the Full Cost of Means-Tested Welfare or Aid to the Poor – why doesn’t he CUT OUT THE FRAUD in what we already have and try to get people OFF of welfare???

Nancy

Jesus Wasn’t White asked:


Here is an exerpt:

‘Why I Support the Ryan Roadmap
Let’s not settle for the big-government status quo, which is what the president’s deficit commission offers.

By SARAH PALIN
The publication of the findings of the president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was indeed, as the report was titled, “A Moment of Truth.” The report shows we’re much closer to the budgetary breaking point than previously assumed. The Medicare Trust Fund will be insolvent by 2017. As early as 2025, federal revenue will barely be enough to pay for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on our national debt. With spending structurally outpacing revenue, something clearly needs to be done to avert national bankruptcy.

The commission itself calculates that, even if all of its recommendations are implemented, the federal budget will continue to balloon—to an estimated $5 trillion in 2020, from an already unprecedented $3.5 trillion today. The commission makes only a limited effort to cut spending below the current trend set by the Obama administration.

Among the few areas of spending it does single out for cuts is defense—the one area where we shouldn’t be cutting corners at a time of war. Worst of all, the commission’s proposals institutionalize the current administration’s new big spending commitments, including ObamaCare. Not only does it leave ObamaCare intact, but its proposals would lead to a public option being introduced by the backdoor, with the chairmen’s report suggesting a second look at a government-run health-care program if costs continue to soar.

It also implicitly endorses the use of “death panel”-like rationing by way of the new Independent Payments Advisory Board—making bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare.

The commission’s recommendations are a disappointment. That doesn’t mean, though, that the commission’s work was a wasted effort. For one thing, it has exposed the large and unsustainable deficits that the Obama administration has created through its reckless “spend now, tax later” policies. It also establishes a clear bipartisan consensus on the need to fundamentally reform our entitlement programs. We need a better plan to build on these conclusions with common-sense reforms to tackle our long-term funding crisis in a sustainable way.

In my view, a better plan is the Roadmap for America’s Future produced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.). The Roadmap offers a reliable path to long-term solvency for our entitlement programs, and it does so by encouraging personal responsibility and independence.

On health care, it would replace ObamaCare with a new system in which people are given greater control over their own health-care spending. It achieves this partly through creating medical savings accounts and a new health-care tax credit—the only tax credit that would be left in a radically simplified new income tax system that people can opt into if they wish.

The Roadmap would also replace our high and anticompetitive corporate income tax with a business consumption tax of just 8.5%. The overall tax burden would be limited to 19% of GDP (compared to 21% under the deficit commission’s proposals). Beyond that, Rep. Ryan proposes fundamental reform of Medicare for those under 55 by turning the current benefit into a voucher with which people can purchase their own care.’

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009322838245628.html

Rashad Mcgillivray

edith clarke asked:


Here’s the article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/health.religion

What are some of the reasons the author thinks religious conservatives are responsible for high abortion rates?
“In East Africa and Latin America, where religious conservatives ensure that terminations remain illegal, they account for almost all abortions. Methods include drinking turpentine or bleach, shoving sticks or coathangers into the uterus, and pummelling the abdomen, which often causes the uterus to burst, killing the patient. The WHO estimates that between 65,000 and 70,000 women die as a result of illegal abortions every year, while 5 million suffer severe complications.”

If increased contraception use leads to a marked decrease in abortions, why are conservatives against contraception education, availability and use? Is their agenda about saving lives, or controlling lives?

Kerry Peiffer

FLSwampBoy asked:


Do some of you folks actually read about these events are just start to scream Liberals and Unions? Be responsible!
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New business Tax Cuts puts them $100 million in the Red over the next 3 years…

Shep on Fox News just asked/reported this question…

It seems like the Teachers have a point…
=======================================
“The Badger State was actually in pretty good shape. It was supposed to end this budget cycle with about $120 million in the bank. Instead, it’s facing a deficit. Why?

More than half of the lower estimate ($117.2 million) is due to the impact of Special Session Senate Bill 2 (health savings accounts), Assembly Bill 3 (tax deductions/credits for relocated businesses), and Assembly Bill 7 (tax exclusion for new employees).

In English: The governor signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues. The new legislation was not offset, and it turned a surplus into a deficit. As Brian Beutler writes, ‘public workers are being asked to pick up the tab for this agenda.’ ”

The Unions are having a fit because the bill in question would make their union impossible to run and not save the taxpayers any money. Here is the link about the bill.

http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_me…

When the government proposes to force “Collective bargaining units are required to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union”, he is forcing them to vote every year to keep them in business, instead of vote once to create and vote once to dissolve. Also, it forces pay raises to be below the rate of inflation. Workers have no recourse to negotiate better pay.

Also, “Local law enforcement and fire employees, and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from these changes.” Apparently, unions who vote for him get favorable treatment.
Why don’t just simply bypass the question and not answer. Save us both time.
da

Felecia Carskadon

The BoogeyMan asked:


Increased Income Tax Rates
• Currently, all income tax rates are set to increase on January 1, 2011. If passed, President Obama’s 2011 budget would increase the personal income tax rates for the top two tax brackets. As a result, two-thirds of small businesses would be taxed at a rate of 39.6 percent. (1).

chart tax increases

- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Return of the Death Tax—At 55 Percent
• The Bush-era tax cuts eliminated the death tax entirely in 2010. However, the death tax is scheduled to come back in 2011. All individuals who have personal assets valued at more than $1 million will be taxed at a rate of 55 percent upon his or her death. The return of the death tax will likely put small businesses and family farms out of business that cannot afford to pay for this immoral form of double taxation. (2).

Increased Capital Gains Taxes—To 20 Percent
• The capital gains tax will rise from 15 to 20 percent. The increased capital gains tax will deter small businesses from creating new jobs. In addition, the capital gains tax discourages investment and punishes Americans who save money for the future. (3).

Increased Dividends Tax –To 39.6 Percent
• The dividend tax will rise from 15 to 39.6 percent in 2011. The dividend tax is a form of double taxation since a company has already paid corporate taxes on their profits. As a result, investors are harmed in the process. (4). The dividend tax discourages investment in business which is essential to job growth.

Increased Energy Taxes
• Various tax cuts will be repealed for companies that produce energy. Since these new taxes will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, expect your energy costs to skyrocket. (5).

Increased Health Care Taxes
• “The Medicine Cabinet Tax”: Individuals will no longer be able to use pre-taxed dollars in their flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts to purchase over the counter medicines available without a doctor’s prescription.

• “Brand Name Drug Tax”: ObamaCare will impose a hefty tax on name-brand drug manufacturers. This tax will be passed onto all consumers in the form of higher medicine prices. (6).

On January 1, 2011, the largest tax hike in history will occur. The list above includes only a few of the many tax increases that are expected. The increased taxes on small businesses, family farms, investors, parents and consumers will destroy job creation. During these hard economic times, Congress should be focusing on reducing the tax burden for all Americans in order to restore prosperity and boost job growth. Instead, the scheduled 2011 tax hikes will stifle economic growth while creating widespread uncertainty for small businesses and taxpayers.

http://www.freedomworks.org/publications/capitol-comment-2011-tax-hikes

http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171

@lawgirl prove me wrong t hen. Looks like you are the gullible liberal
@mrsmartypants. The only way to get the tax cuts passed was because the democrats would have fillibustered them if they were permenant

Nicole

Marci asked:


I don’t understand how people can sit and judge that Obama has done nothing and is not concentrating on the real issues with no real facts or evidence to back up those opinions. How long has the man been in office? Less than a year. Does anyone really understand that? Things don’t happen over night in any capacity and if they do you should be worried. I keep hearing that Cash for Clunkers is crippling the economy, but I do believe that it was already crippled from the 8 year reign of terror by Bush/Cheney and friends. If you would like to see some factual evidence as to the positive effects of this program visit…

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909120307

I just would like some real answers as to why people think that all the horrible issues with this country and extreme debt is so easy to fix or that Obama is doing nothing towards changing things. The new health care reform bill is a great example of how he is on the right track. Health care accounts for 1/6 of our economy and if it continues in the next couple of years it will be 1/3. Also, Insurance rates have been increasing at three times the rate that wages have. The new bill will not change insurance for people who are happy with it (except make it cheaper), but will open up more options so that everyone can have low cost coverage. If everyone has health care and serious illnesses can be caught before they advance into expensive problems, won’t that cut spending all the way around? The myth that Obama will be stripping money from medicare or adding to the deficit is just that a myth. The majority of the initiatives that would pay for reform will come from cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. They want to take money that is already being spent on health care and re-allocate it toward reforms that lower costs and assure quality affordable health care for all Americans. Considering that health care is a $2 trillion a year industry, I think reform is a great idea. Also considering many politicians are with the Carlyle Group (one of the nations leading investment firms in healthcare), I believe many are raising a huff and spreading lies about the reform in order to protect their own assets. Don’t believe me just check out the Carlyle Group website, google them or whatever you want, just inform yourself.

The cuts we are talking about involve spending that currently does not improve care for Americans. For example, we would save $177 billion in unwarranted subsidies to the insurance industry in the next ten years and put that money into actual care for people. These and other reforms will strengthen and stabilize Medicare. Our country was a pit of despair when it switched hands and I think the fact that economic rises and gains are now being published is cause for hope. I think it is very surprising that we aren’t in a state of third world chaos at this point. And I believe in giving credit where it is do. True change in this country isn’t going to take a year its going to take decades. We seem to all have instant gratification on the mind, but is that so surprising. We are a culture of I want it now, give it to me now. We don’t want to know the why’s and how’s we just know we want it. But until that attitude is given up the change we seek is going to take longer and longer. Don’t just think about your own desires right now, think about the good these actions will have years from now when our children and grandchildren need it. We all made our mess, so we may have to lay in it for awhile, but I certainly don’t want my beautiful little niece and nephew to have to wallow in it their entire lives. I wish we could all be positive, curious, informed, and hopeful for once, instead of cynical, opinionated, selfish, and fearful.
I’m looking for some facts here people…
And what kind of craziness has taken over the guy that said America was not founded on a radical design, everything about us was considered rebellious and radical! I am not saying taking away cancer will cut costs but how does it not make sense that if you can catch it earlier it will. Also, I have found nothing stating any funding cuts dealing with doctors pay. All cuts in cost are directed at insurance companies and their bottomlines. Sheesh, and nothing I posted relates to MSNBC, and I don’t watch MSNBC…or fox news for that matter. Richard Armour once said “Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right and left instead of right and wrong.”

Allan Rastegar

mission_viejo_california asked:


As 77 million members of the Baby Boom generation begin to retire, America is about to experience one of the most dramatic economic, sociological and demographic changes in its history. The institutions we have relied upon in the past are completely unprepared for what lies ahead.

Politicians, the national news media and the general public have become increasingly aware that our federal entitlement programs are about to be swamped. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have made trillions of dollars of explicit and implicit unfunded promises. In fact, by 2030 (about the midpoint of the baby boomers’ retirement years), we will have to double every tax rate or cut every benefit in half.

But our problems do not end there. Federal, state and local governments have made $5 trillion in promises (many of which are unfunded) to civil service workers. Corporate America owes about $450 billion in pension promises and $350 billion in post-retirement health care promises that are also unfunded.

To make matters worse, the instruments we have created to help individuals save for their own retirement – principally through 401(k) accounts — are also not working well. In general, people are not saving enough, and they are not prudently investing the funds they do save.

Behind our inadequate institutions are inadequate public policies. For example:

* On balance, the tax law encourages current consumption, but discourages saving for consumption during retirement.
* Even more important, the tax law encourages overconsumption of health care before retirement, but discourages saving for what are likely to be greater health needs later in life.
* The American answer to the European-style welfare state has traditionally been employer-provided benefits. Yet:
* Unwise public policies are encouraging large employers to abandon pension and post-retirement health care promises made to their employees.
* Other policies are preventing employers from helping employees make their own provision for income and health care during the retirement years.
* The policies that are most inadequate for the baby boomers’ retirement years are those affecting early retirees. In general:
* People who retire early will find that their opportunities to save are much more restricted than those available to people still in the workforce.
* They will find that health insurance is not only more costly when purchased by individuals, but the insurance (unlike insurance obtained at work) must be purchased with after-tax dollars.
* Once they begin drawing Social Security, they will discover that if they earn additional income, say by working part-time, they will face draconian effective tax rates – taking as much as two-thirds of what they earn.
* And even if they don’t work for wages, they will discover that the tax rates on their pension income and IRA withdrawals are much higher than the rates paid by younger taxpayers at the same income level.

Christopher

skycat asked:


Have you read how the government really wants young adults to buy health insurance? I can see why. I saved over $100,000 totally by accident simply by putting the amount normally paid for health insurance into a separate account for many years knowing how healthy I was as a young adult. I only used my money twice a year for the dentist. A few years ago I bought hospitalization just in case.

When I lost my job the money was there for me to use instead of collecting welfare. If I hadn’t lost my job, it would still be growing.

What is wrong with my choice in life that has only benefited me and was never a burden on the country.

I was born into a poor family and never completed college so I am not a person of privilege, just a planner.
Cancer and heart disease rarely hits people in their twenties. Triple bypass, get real ! I will buy health insurance when I am ready to have a baby in a year or so and then keep it going after that. Like the poster said, it was a gamble and I won. When I have kids, and if they are healthy throughout their childhood I would like for them to do the same thing but instead just include hospitalization which is cheap.

Darin Beazley