Key details of health care reform legislation between the House version of the legislation and the Senate's measure remain to be resolved in Committee markups, floor debates and ultimately a conference committee, but here's what it is likely to look like for contractors:
Companies with annual payrolls greater than $400,000.00 will be required to provide health insurance for all employees, or pay the federal government a penalty equal to 8$ of total payroll. Individual families not covered through their employers will be required to buy individual or family coverage on their own, or pay a penalty amounting to 2.5% of their gross income. And a federal surtax for healthcare ranging from 1% for families with incomes above $350,000 up to 5.4% for families earning over $1 million will be imposed on everyone, to pay for government subsidies to assist low income families get private insurance, or Medicare or Medicaid coverage.
The Congressional Budget Office now predicts that the House version of the measure will likely cost taxpayers $1 trillion. And, in a publicity bid to soften the opposition to adoption of a public plan to compete with private health insurance companies, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee concluded its markup of the Senate bill by accepting an amendment from Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma requiring all Representatives and Senators to participate in any public plan adopted by Congress. Coburn said in proposing the amendment, "We're in leadership positions, and if it's not good enough for us, then it's not good enough for America." the amendment was adopted by a vote of 12-11, and afterwards Coburn remarked, "I'd love to be a church mouse in the conference committee when this gets dropped."
I guess in Congress what's sauce for the goose is not necessarily sauce for the gander.
