Subject: To The President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform Comment: To Whom It May Concern It is my understanding that your panel is considering eliminating the alternative minimum tax. In order to offset the revenue from this tax, it has been proposed that Congress tax employees on the value of their employer sponsored health plans. I have to wonder how this idea could be given serious consideration. Here in Kentucky, my clients have been grappling with double digit increases, mostly in the middle to high teens, the last four years. Previously my clients had been able to absorb health insurance increases without passing them directly to the employees. However, that has not been the case the last four years. Employers have implemented a dual strategy in most cases, whereby they are decreasing benefits and increasing the employee’s premiums. In other words, the employees are already taking on a greater share of their health insurance costs. Generally speaking, the increased non premium portion of the health care costs is not tax deductible to employees. So, I have to ask how it makes sense to further strain the health care system by taxing the employee for the benefit that they receive from the employer sponsored health plan. Simply put, this proposal would cause more employees to drop their health insurance and seek medical care that is subsidized by local, state, and the federal government. I would like to suggest that you consider not eliminating the alternative minimum entirely, but changing the parameters so that it only taxes the high wage earners that it was originally supposed to tax. Thanks for taking the time to review this. Wade H. Poole, III Integrated Benefits 502-493-1089 wadep@insuramax.com |