A poll by Gallup reveals exactly what the majority of Americans think about the proposals that are in President Obama’s Jobs Plan. Most of them are in favor of making the wealthiest Americans pay more taxes. Some of those taxes are going to be on the health insurance plans of the rich.
At first glance, you might not think that a Jobs Plan would include things directly related to health insurance. However, there are some very controversial aspects of the Jobs Plan that connect directly to health insurance.
If the Jobs Plan becomes law, (unaltered from how it is written right now), then it means that the wealthiest Americans will be paying taxes on their health insurance policies starting in 2013. In short, what will happen is that individuals who make $200,000 a year (or more), and families that make $250,000 a year, (or more), will be expected to start paying taxes on their employer sponsored health insurance plans. Those policies will no longer be tax exempt.
In 2018, there will be a 40% tax placed on health insurance plans that are worth more than $10,200 (for individuals). The same 40% tax will be placed on health insurance plans that are worth more than $27,000 (for families). Keep in mind those dollar amounts represent the value of the health insurance plan, and not the income of the individual who is able to purchase those plans.
Right now, many of the people who are high-income earners are complaining about these (and other) taxes that they would be expected to pay. They have started calling this concept “class warfare”. President Obama has responded by saying that it is not “class warfare”, it is “math”.
What do the majority of Americans think about the taxes involved in the Jobs Plan? A poll done by Gallup finds that the majority of Americans are in favor of the plan, and in favor of requiring the richest Americans to pay more taxes.
Specifically, people who took the poll were asked whether they favor or oppose certain proposals that President Obama has made to pay for the cost of the Jobs Bill. 70% are in favor of “increasing taxes on some corporations by eliminating certain tax deductions”. 66% are in favor of “increasing income taxes on individuals earning at least $200,000 and families earning at least $250,000.
If you break this up by the respondent’s political leanings, it gets a little more interesting. 86% of Democrats, and 53% of Republicans are in favor of “increasing taxes on some corporations by eliminating certain tax deductions”. 85% of Democrats, and 41% of Republicans are in favor of “increasing income taxes on individuals earning at least $200,000 and families earning at least $250,000”.
Image by Tracy O on Flickr