Well, we’re back after two crazy days. I did get to appear on Opie and Anthony, where once again Anthony and I argued about health care reform for a nice amount of time. That was a lot of fun. I also got to be in studio for Stand Up! with Pete Dominick, which is also always a blast. You can, of course, catch me on that show regularly.
And, many thanks to the Dr. Oz show for bringing me out there for their show. I’m not sure when it will air, but it was a lot of fun and I hope they’ll have me back on sometime.
Now back to health care…
Doesn’t seem like much happened while I was gone. The Senate is still working on firming up their bill. The House is still celebrating. The Stupak amendment is causing some trouble.
Senator Reid is talking about a Medicare Payroll tax, however:
The Democratic source said Reid is considering an increase in the Medicare tax for individuals with income exceeding $250,000. The current Medicare deduction is 1.4 percent of income.
The idea is an alternative to the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal to tax so-called “Cadillac” health insurance plans that offer broad coverage at a much higher-than-average price.
This is an interesting idea. It would replace the unpopular (in the Senate) income tax in the House bill with a slightly different type of income tax. By linking it to Medicare money, he can claim it’s “improving Medicare” and also helping the long-term fiscal health of the program. If it takes hold, it might do good both politically and economically.
