Tell the Senate: Support Health Insurance Reform without Taxation of Benefits

The time is now for comprehensive health insurance reform in our country. Millions of Americans are uninsured, and our health care costs continue to skyrocket. Working families deserve quality, affordable health care that is accessible to all. However, Congress needs to know that taxing health care benefits is not the answer to paying for reform.

The Senate Finance Committee version of health insurance reform legislation includes a 40% excise tax on so-called "high cost" insurance plans - individual plans above $8,000 and family plans above $21,000. Any kind of tax will simply end up being passed along to the consumer. This tax on insurance companies really means a tax on the middle class, and that is a burden that America's working families should not endure.

In contrast to the Senate Finance Committee's version of health insurance reform, the recently passed House bill (H.R. 3962) and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's version do not include a tax on benefits. H.R. 3962 and the Senate HELP version do include a strong employer mandate, otherwise known as "pay or play", which requires employers either to provide health care coverage for employees or make contributions on their behalf into an insurance pool. The Senate Finance version lacks such a mandate. The Senate is working on combining the Finance and HELP Committee bills and bringing one bill to the Senate floor for a vote.

As Congress continues its work on health insurance reform legislation, we must continue our work in advocating for what's best for working families. Please send an e-mail today to your Senators in support of health insurance reform that doesn't include a taxation on benefits and does include a strong employer mandate.