Obamacare Repeal = $7 Million Tax Cut for Nation's Richest 400 People
New report from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows getting rid of healthcare law would deliver windfall tax cut for top earners
Repealing Obamacare, which Republicans on Friday appear closer to doing, would deliver a sizeable tax cut for the rich, a new report shows.
Released Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the publication shows that the repeal would give to each of the top 400 highest-income taxpayers--who averaged incomes of roughly $318 million in 2014--a tax cut of about $7 million a year.
That's because getting rid of the healthcare law would mean getting rid of its two Medicare taxes, which are paid for by individuals with incomes above $200,000 and couples with incomes above $250,000. One is a 3.8 percent Medicare tax that hits their unearned income (like capital gains) above those thresholds, while the other is additional 0.9 percent tax on earned income above those thresholds.
As such, a repeal "delivers tax cuts that are extremely tilted to the top," the report states.
At the same time, low-and middle-income households would see a rise in taxes since they would lose premium tax credits to buy health coverage through the marketplaces, CBPP notes. For the rich, the benefits of a repeal wouldn't end with the elimination of the Medicare taxes, the report continues:
Republicans also plan to move a broader tax package this year, and the tax proposals from both the House GOP (in its "Better Way" plan issued last June) and President-elect Trump include large, additional net tax cuts heavily focused on the most well-off. These include such proposals as sharply reducing the top business and individual income tax rates and repealing the estate tax.
Apart from taking healthcare coverage away from some 30 million people, another study released last week showed that the repeal could cost states trillions in lost revenue and output.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Jan. 15 to be a day of action nationwide to "[m]ake sure [President-elect] Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues know that we won't let them take our healthcare away, end Medicare as we know it, cut Medicaid, and defund Planned Parenthood."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Repealing Obamacare, which Republicans on Friday appear closer to doing, would deliver a sizeable tax cut for the rich, a new report shows.
Released Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the publication shows that the repeal would give to each of the top 400 highest-income taxpayers--who averaged incomes of roughly $318 million in 2014--a tax cut of about $7 million a year.
That's because getting rid of the healthcare law would mean getting rid of its two Medicare taxes, which are paid for by individuals with incomes above $200,000 and couples with incomes above $250,000. One is a 3.8 percent Medicare tax that hits their unearned income (like capital gains) above those thresholds, while the other is additional 0.9 percent tax on earned income above those thresholds.
As such, a repeal "delivers tax cuts that are extremely tilted to the top," the report states.
At the same time, low-and middle-income households would see a rise in taxes since they would lose premium tax credits to buy health coverage through the marketplaces, CBPP notes. For the rich, the benefits of a repeal wouldn't end with the elimination of the Medicare taxes, the report continues:
Republicans also plan to move a broader tax package this year, and the tax proposals from both the House GOP (in its "Better Way" plan issued last June) and President-elect Trump include large, additional net tax cuts heavily focused on the most well-off. These include such proposals as sharply reducing the top business and individual income tax rates and repealing the estate tax.
Apart from taking healthcare coverage away from some 30 million people, another study released last week showed that the repeal could cost states trillions in lost revenue and output.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Jan. 15 to be a day of action nationwide to "[m]ake sure [President-elect] Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues know that we won't let them take our healthcare away, end Medicare as we know it, cut Medicaid, and defund Planned Parenthood."
Repealing Obamacare, which Republicans on Friday appear closer to doing, would deliver a sizeable tax cut for the rich, a new report shows.
Released Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the publication shows that the repeal would give to each of the top 400 highest-income taxpayers--who averaged incomes of roughly $318 million in 2014--a tax cut of about $7 million a year.
That's because getting rid of the healthcare law would mean getting rid of its two Medicare taxes, which are paid for by individuals with incomes above $200,000 and couples with incomes above $250,000. One is a 3.8 percent Medicare tax that hits their unearned income (like capital gains) above those thresholds, while the other is additional 0.9 percent tax on earned income above those thresholds.
As such, a repeal "delivers tax cuts that are extremely tilted to the top," the report states.
At the same time, low-and middle-income households would see a rise in taxes since they would lose premium tax credits to buy health coverage through the marketplaces, CBPP notes. For the rich, the benefits of a repeal wouldn't end with the elimination of the Medicare taxes, the report continues:
Republicans also plan to move a broader tax package this year, and the tax proposals from both the House GOP (in its "Better Way" plan issued last June) and President-elect Trump include large, additional net tax cuts heavily focused on the most well-off. These include such proposals as sharply reducing the top business and individual income tax rates and repealing the estate tax.
Apart from taking healthcare coverage away from some 30 million people, another study released last week showed that the repeal could cost states trillions in lost revenue and output.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Jan. 15 to be a day of action nationwide to "[m]ake sure [President-elect] Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues know that we won't let them take our healthcare away, end Medicare as we know it, cut Medicaid, and defund Planned Parenthood."