13 May 2009 Outrage of the Day: The Max Baucus Proposal to Tax Our Health Insurance Benefits

The left says its move to expand the federal government’s role in health care is spurred by a desire to make sure all Americans have health insurance coverage.

But Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is now suggesting that Americans should pay income taxes on the health insurance they receive from employers, with proceeds from the tax earmarked to pay for an expansion of government-run health care.

If you tax something, you get less of it.

So if your goal is to see to it that the amount of health insurance coverage Americans have is increased, the last thing you should do is impose taxes on health insurance benefits.

As Max Baucus is hardly an insignificant player in the left’s effort to impose government-run health care, his proposal raises the question: When it comes to health insurance, is the left’s real goal to expand the government’s role while reducing the private one?

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement