What the New Health Care Law Means for Manufacturers
Useful links for guidance on the new Health Care Reform Law:
March 23, 2010: President Obama has signed the health care bill into law. A companion measure passed by House Democrats to make a series of changes to the main bill in order to garner support now goes to the Senate. This package of fixes requires just 50 votes for passage under special budget rules, instead of the usual 60 votes required to prevent a filibuster of the bill.
March 22, 2010: Last night, the House approved the largest overhaul of our health care in nearly half a century in a dramatic 219-to-212 vote. No Republican voted for the bill, and 34 Democrats voted against it. The bill now goes to the White House for the President’s signature. A short time later, the House voted 220 to 211 to approve a package of fixes to the bill, a measure necessary to attract support in the House. That package of fixes now heads to the Senate, where action is expected to begin this week.
March 19, 2010: Both House and Senate have passed huge but different healthcare reform measures. However, without support from Republicans, they are unable to find a compromise version that can garner the 60 Senate votes necessary overcome a filibuster. As a result, The Democratic leadership will use a tactic known as budget reconciliation that can bypass both a filibuster and the need for any GOP votes in the Senate. Budget reconciliation requires simple majority of 51 votes for passing a bill and caps debate at 20 hours. House Democrats continue to seek enough votes to secure the 216 votes required to pass the latest proposal.
Some members are still undecided on health care reform. Now is a time when you can make a difference. Write your Members of Congress. You can use this sample letter to write your own letter or use the Web form letter by entering your zip code below.
February 23, 2010: The President has released the Administration's proposal for health care reform in advance of a bipartisan meeting he called to jumpstart the stalled effort.
December 11, 2009: AMT signs coalition letter opposing Senate health care bill.
December 9, 2009: A group of Senators, led by Small Business Committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D-LA), introduced a package of amendments to the Senate health care bill aimed at reducing small business health care costs. Fact sheet on small business amendment package.
November 22, 2009: The Senate voted last night to proceed with consideration of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) 2,000+ page sweeping health care overhaul. "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" was approved by a party-line 60-39 vote (Sen. Voinovich (R-OH) did not vote) setting up a contentious debate to begin after Thanksgiving and lasting right up until Christmas. The bill would expand coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans at a cost of $849 billion over ten years. The Senate bill is largely similar to the House-passed bill regarding coverage. However, a significant difference between the two bills is the in the way each raises revenue to pay for the sweeping overhaul. The Senate bill relies on a tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans and a .5% increase in the Medicare payroll tax for individuals making more that $250,000 annually to pay for its proposal, while the House bill would levy a 5.4% surtax on high income individuals. AMT opposes both the House and Senate bills because they contain additional taxes and mandates on small businesses.
Update, November 19, 2009: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled his 2,000+ page health care reform bill last night. "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" would cost $849 billion over ten years and expand coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans. The Senate Leadership hopes to begin debate on the bill next week. The Senate bill is largely similar to the House-passed bill regarding coverage. However, a significant difference between the two bills is the in the way each raises revenue to pay for this sweeping overhaul of our current system. The Senate bill relies on a tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans and a .5% increase in the Medicare payroll tax for individuals making more that $250,000 annually to pay for its plan while the House bill would levy a 5.4% surtax on high income individuals (a provision which hits small businesses as well and adamantly opposed by AMT). Short Summary of Senate Health Care bill posted by the Democratic Leadership
Update, November 7, 2009: The House approved "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962) by a 220-215 vote. Only one Republican voted for the bill, while 39 Democrats voted against it. Attention now turns to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is expected to introduce a bill as soon as he receives a cost estimate on his proposal from the Congressional Budget Office. That could happen any day. Although he has kept most details undercover, Senator Reid has said the bill will include a public insurance option with a state "opt out" provision. The bill will likely differ from the House bill on revenue raisers to pay for the overhaul. AMT opposes the 5.4% "millionaire's surtax" passed as part of the House bill. Senate Democrats will need 60 votes rather than a simple majority to pass their proposal. Now is the time to let your Members of Congress know that health care reform should not be paid for by America's small businesses.
Update, October 29, 2009: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled the
"Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962) on the steps of the U.S. Capitol today. The bill would expand coverage to 36 million currently uninsured Americans at a price tag of more than $1 trillion dollars over 10 years. That's the good news! It also includes employer and worker mandates and tax hikes and penalties while limiting choices and affordability. It includes a compromise version of the controversial "public option," and would impose a 5.4% "millionaire's surtax" on individual's making over $500,000 a year ($1 million for a couple) in order to pay for the bill -- a tax that would fall hardest on the many small businesses, such as subchapter S-corporations, partnerships, LLCs and other pass through entities, that file individual income taxes. AMT is strongly opposed to H.R. 3962 and similar proposals.
Comprehensive List of All Tax Hikes in H.R. 3962 (Americans for Tax Reform)
AMT Position: AMT supports responsible health care reform that brings down costs and allows businesses greater access to affordable health insurance for their employees; while opposing measures that add to employers' already high tax and heavy regulatory burden on America’s manufacturers
Use the links below to write Your Members of Congress today:
House Energy and Commerce Summary
Sample Letter - Personalize and Print on your company letterhead.
Find fax numbers for your Member of Congress by entering your zip code below.
Or send your letter electronically. Enter your zip code below.
Then click on "Issues" and "Sample Letter on Health Care Legislation."
Update: Sen. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has released the "
America's Healthy Futures Act." The $856 billion healthcare bill contains no public option. Although Chairman Baucus had been working for months with a bipartisan "Gang of Six" group of Senators to craft a compromise package, none of the Republicans in the group -- Sens. Grassley (R-IA), Enzi (R-WY), and Snowe (R-ME) -- support Baucus's "Chairman's Mark." The legislation includes tax credits to help small businesses (25 employees or less) offer insurance to their employees. To help pay for the plan, Baucus proposes to tax so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans and issue new fees on insurance companies and medical device manufacturers.
Status: The House Committees with jurisdiction on healthcare legislation (Ways & Means, Education & Labor, and Energy & Commerce) finished marking up their healthcare bill just in time for the congressional August recess. America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (
H.R. 3200) is opposed by AMT and most other business groups. It includes an employer mandate requiring employers to offer healthcare, which meets the 'minimum benefit' standards to be set by the government, or pay an 8% payroll tax. It also levies a surtax on the income of higher earning taxpayers in an attempt to raise some $544 billion to help offset the cost of the health reform bill. But that surtax will fall heavily on many businesses, since nearly 75% of small businesses in America are structured as "pass-through" entities, such as S Corporations and partnerships, and pay their business taxes at the individual level where this surtax will apply.
The
Health Care Solutions Group, a group of House Republicans, recently unveiled their health care plan which could appeal to some moderate Democrats. But with the Democrats in control of Congress, there is little chance this proposal will go anywhere.
In the Senate, a bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee members, led by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), are working to draft a bipartisan compromise on healthcare. Issues include the affordability of medical insurance, the expansion of Medicare, and how to pay for covering nearly 50 million now-uninsured Americans. Senate negotiators want to have a bill ready for Senate floor consideration by mid-September.
