DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Bush proposes tax changes to address health care costs

**soprofaxel** · 01-20-2007, 07:10 PM

The cost of health care is growing more than two times faster than wages, making it harder for families to buy insurance and for employers to sponsor a health benefit for their workers, Bush said.

One way to tackle rising premiums is to treat health insurance more like owning a home, he said.

"The current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes," Bush said. "We can provide a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance."

....

Bush said he believes the federal government has a responsibility to provide health care for the most vulnerable members of society -- the elderly, disabled and poor. The country is meeting that responsibility through entitlement programs, such as Medicare, which covers the elderly and disabled, and Medicaid, which covers the very poor.

"We must strengthen these vital programs so that they are around when future generations need them," Bush said.

Bush proposes tax changes to address health care costs - CNN.com I think this is a good idea for citizens, but may be bad news for hospitals and healthcare providers. What do you think about requiring everyone to have health insurance like we have to have car insurance?

I know personally health care for the wife and I went up about $100/month this year. Co-pay went up 25% and perscription drugs went up a few dollars. We can't go without insurance because my wife is a lemon. It would be nice if we could write part of it off.

Also could someone maybe elaborate a little bit on what the end of this article touched on. I'm not sure if I fully understand why this would hurt the healthcare providers.

01-20-2007, 07:10 PM	#1
soprofaxel Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 436 Senior Member	Bush proposes tax changes to address health care costs The cost of health care is growing more than two times faster than wages, making it harder for families to buy insurance and for employers to sponsor a health benefit for their workers, Bush said. One way to tackle rising premiums is to treat health insurance more like owning a home, he said. "The current tax code encourages home ownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your mortgage from your taxes," Bush said. "We can provide a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance." .... Bush said he believes the federal government has a responsibility to provide health care for the most vulnerable members of society -- the elderly, disabled and poor. The country is meeting that responsibility through entitlement programs, such as Medicare, which covers the elderly and disabled, and Medicaid, which covers the very poor. "We must strengthen these vital programs so that they are around when future generations need them," Bush said. Bush proposes tax changes to address health care costs - CNN.com I think this is a good idea for citizens, but may be bad news for hospitals and healthcare providers. What do you think about requiring everyone to have health insurance like we have to have car insurance? I know personally health care for the wife and I went up about $100/month this year. Co-pay went up 25% and perscription drugs went up a few dollars. We can't go without insurance because my wife is a lemon. It would be nice if we could write part of it off. Also could someone maybe elaborate a little bit on what the end of this article touched on. I'm not sure if I fully understand why this would hurt the healthcare providers.
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