Subject: Taxation of Health Benefits Comment: I am an insurance broker working with employers of all sizes trying to help them continue to offer and afford their group benefits plan. How dare the administration even consider taxing employees' health benefits. This is just another way for the Federal Government to pass more expense on to employers who are already overloaded with financial responsibility for a workforce who sometimes doesn't even work for them. I completely agree with Mr. Klein in that most employers are struggling to find a way to afford to continue to offer group health insurance to their employees. Some smaller employers have had to give up and terminate their plan and throw their employees to the mercy of the state. The more uninsured people there are, the more it will cost all of us in yet even more social programs! For many employers, the only thing standing between their benefits plan and no plan is their ability to deduct the premium payments they make on behalf of their employees. Even with employers who offer a plan and pay the majority of the premium cost, there are still many employees who can't even afford their part. If they're taxed on premium paid on their behalf by the employer, again there will be many who would join the ranks of the uninsured. The Federal Government has already passed multiple benefit mandates that pose a significant financial hardship on employers, they just simply cannot justify this latest effort to tax them even more. Add to that, the multiple state mandates, the obscene and ever rising cost of health care, it's no wonder so many companies are out of business. You are making it impossible for anyone operating a business in this country to survive! Why don't you start by looking at the retirement benefits of our Congressman and Senators - you could save billions there just by putting them in the same Social Security System the rest of us working Americans are in. Or, stop the out of control spending in other countries, with no requirement for pay-back. Stop the out of control over-population of the segments of society who are not contributing to the system and never have or will. NO MORE BURDENS ON THE PEOPLE AND ENTITIES WHO ACTUALLY WORK AND CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SYSTEM! Thank you for your attention. |