Subject: Taxing Employer Sponsored Health Coverage Comment: I am the Director of Human Resources for a company employing about 200 people. I recently read an article about the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform considering the taxing of employee's employer-sponsored health coverage. I felt compelled to write to ask that this be stopped. A large majority of our employees live in California and are already living paycheck to paycheck. They are continuing to "pay at the pump" which is already quite taxing. Our property taxes in California are some of the highest in in the country and our schools are still in great need of financial assistance. Our employees are constantly having to donate their own money to their children's schools to make sure their children get the education they deserve. The outrageous property taxes are not covering the costs. Winter is coming and heating costs are expected to surpass prior years. In Human Resources we really try to use our benefits as a recruiting and retention tool. Taxing these benefits reduces the attractiveness of the benefits. Additionally, in the past we have had employees who have declined medical benefits, claiming they could not afford the small amount the company requires they pay. This leaves employees uninsured and vunerable to high debt if they ever find themselves or their families ill or hospitalized for any reason. As a person who works with the people who this directly affect, please strongly reconsider this tax consideration. |