Tea Partiers in front of Kucinich's Office

[Jim DeVito]

Come to the 9/12 Project...
we have pie.

Do I have to be crazy for the lord?
Is it apple pie?

[Stephen Eisel]

Come to the 9/12 Project...
we have pie.

Do I have to be crazy for the lord?
Is it apple pie?

How about just crazy????

[Charlie Page]

By David Hogberg
Sun., March 21, '10 3:24 PM ET

15. The government will extract a fee of $2.3 billion annually from the pharmaceutical industry. If you are a pharmaceutical company what you will pay depends on the ratio of the number of brand-name drugs you sell to the total number of brand-name drugs sold in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the brand-name drugs in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2.3 billion, or $230,000,000. (Under reconciliation, it starts at $2.55 billion, jumps to $3 billion in 2012, then to $3.5 billion in 2017 and $4.2 billion in 2018, before settling at $2.8 billion in 2019 (Section 1404)). Think you, as a pharmaceutical executive, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 9008 (b)).

16. The government will extract a fee of $2 billion annually from medical device makers. If you are a medical device maker what you will pay depends on your share of medical device sales in the U.S. So, if you sell 10% of the medical devices in the U.S., what you pay will be 10% multiplied by $2 billion, or $200,000,000. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for R&D? Tough. (Section 9009 (b)).

The reconciliation package turns that into a 2.9% excise tax for medical device makers. Think you, as a medical device maker, know how to better use that money, say for research and development? Tough. (Section 1405).

17. The government will extract a fee of $6.7 billion annually from insurance companies. If you are an insurer, what you will pay depends on your share of net premiums plus 200% of your administrative costs. So, if your net premiums and administrative costs are equal to 10% of the total, you will pay 10% of $6.7 billion, or $670,000,000. In the reconciliation bill, the fee will start at $8 billion in 2014, $11.3 billion in 2015, $1.9 billion in 2017, and $14.3 billion in 2018 (Section 1406).Think you, as an insurance executive, know how to better spend that money? Tough.(Section 9010 (b) (1) (A and B).)

18. If an insurance company board or its stockholders think the CEO is worth more than $500,000 in deferred compensation? Tough.(Section 9014).

19. You will have to pay an additional 0.5% payroll tax on any dollar you make over $250,000 if you file a joint return and $200,000 if you file an individual return. What? You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9015).

That amount will rise to a 3.8% tax if reconciliation passes. It will also apply to investment income, estates, and trusts. You think you know how to spend the money you earned better than the government? Like you need to ask. (Section 1402).

20. If you go for cosmetic surgery, you will pay an additional 5% tax on the cost of the procedure. Think you know how to spend that money you earned better than the government? Tough. (Section 9017).

Businesses will pass the additional cost to consumers. Look at what some San Francisco restaurants have been doing since 2008. Everything is going to cost more. I love hope and change

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/04/03/ ... b/article/

Eating out in San Francisco? Besides the tip, you’ll have to figure in the cost of health care.
The city’s health-care mandate is now showing up as a surcharge on some restaurant bills, MarketWatch reports.

Since the beginning of the year, San Francisco businesses have been required to offer health insurance to employees or pay a fee to the city to fund health care.

Some restaurants are passing the fee on to consumers in the form of a health surcharge, which shows up on the bill as a flat fee ($1 per person, or so) or as a percentage (like sales tax).

Restaurants have been pretty unhappy about the ordinance all along. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association sued the city, arguing that the rules about employee benefits can be set only by the feds.

The case has been bouncing through the federal courts, but employers are on the hook for the fees at least until it gets resolved. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is supposed to rule on the case later this month, MarketWatch reports.

Other state and local governments have been keeping an eye on the situation. If the court winds up ruling that only the feds can set benefit requirements, it could force would-be health reformers in statehouses and city halls around the country to reconsider their plans.