Socialized Medicine

One of the more interesting things about living with a CPA is that he can effortlessly defuse economic demagoguery by the Left.

Obama is currently running an ad slamming John McCain for wanting to tax our health insurance as ordinary income and giving us ‘only’ a $5,000 tax credit to off set the increase in taxes. Obama is also claiming that the $5K would go straight to the insurance company.

My CPA explains it thusly:

Say your health insurance costs $800 a month. That’s $9,600 a year. I’m probably in the 25% tax bracket. That means my tax liability goes up $9,600 * .25 = $2,400 per year.

Then I get a $5,000 line-item tax credit ON MY 1040 TAX FORM. Me. Not some insurance company.

So. Let’s see: $5,000 - $2,400 = $2,600.

Yeah, my benefits get taxed but I clear a $2,600 credit applied to all my other tax liabilities, which are refundable. Get it? REFUNDABLE!!!

I get it back!!

I get taxed more heavily but get back way more money.

How’s that a bad thing???

Huh??

And if you damned fools elect this lying charlatan, he wants to nationalize health care. You’re already on the internet. Look up waiting times for simple procedures in Canada and England. What’s the wait for an MRI in Canada? 72 days. Even if you have brain cancer!! Average wait time for surgery? 18.3 weeks. Weeks!!

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/10/15/fraser-report.html

Britain? 13 weeks.

http://www.rangelmd.com/index.php/2007/08/09/nhs-kills-young-woman/

Yeah, socialized medicine is such a success.

It’s great, unless you happen to get sick!

http://www.rangelmd.com/index.php/2007/08/12/socialized-medicine-and-excessive-wait-times/

Then, you’re on your own for weeks at a time. Plenty of time to contemplate your fate as you slowly die of heart disease or cancer and to get your affairs in order.

It’s just one more gift from your government.