TaxVox

The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

More from the blog

What is a Tax?

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September 30, 2009

What is a tax? You would think a senior economist at the Tax Policy Center would have no trouble answering that question. But it is not so simple. This question has come up in the debate over the proposal to require all Americans to have medical insurance—a provision in all of the major congressional health reform bills. If you must buy insurance, is the payment you make a tax or just a premium for insurance coverage? Is the penalty imposed on those who don’t buy insurance a tax or a fine for failing to comply with the law?
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Why Are Republicans Opposing Medicare Cost Controls?

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September 29, 2009

Democrats are proposing to control future Medicare costs, and Republicans are trying to stop them. Who knew? This could have been the perfect “Nixon in China” moment. Democrats—who created Medicare and for decades resisted GOP moves to curb the program—control Congress and the White House. A Democratic President has embraced modest efforts to slow the program’s unsustainable rate of growth. Drug makers, doctors, and hospitals all swallow hard and buy into the idea. It could be the perfect moment for a bit of desperately needed fiscal responsibility.
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Big Government and Housing

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September 24, 2009

We’ve been hearing an awful lot lately about big government taking over the health insurance business. But there may be no commercial transaction in the country more heavily subsidized than housing. And now, many of the very people who are in a panic over government interference in medical care want to increase Washington’s role in home ownership.
Estimating Health Reform Costs: A Cautionary Tale

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September 22, 2009

Years ago, when I first started writing about health care, I came across a press release that said three new cardiac centers had opened in a Midwestern city and that, as a result, the costs of heart care in that town were expected to rise. This seemed contrary to all I had ever learned about supply and demand. But it was a powerful lesson. Health care economics, it turns out, is an oxymoron. The normal rules don’t apply.
Baucus-care: The Gift of the Magi

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September 17, 2009

One of our readers, Kevin, wrote to say he was confused by my description yesterday of the premium subsidy in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ health reform plan as a tax credit. “It sounds like a voucher to me,” he wrote. Sounds like a voucher to me too. Except it isn’t. The proposal would work like this: Everyone would be required to buy insurance, and low- and moderate-income people would get a government subsidy to help out with the premiums. The subsidy, however, is designed as a refundable tax credit paid directly to insurers.
The Baucus Health Bill and Taxes

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September 16, 2009

Lots for tax wonks to chew over in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ health bill. The measure, which has yet to garner any Republican support, is already being called an opening gambit and is likely to be revised as it heads to committee markup next week. Still, it is an indication of how intertwined tax and health policy have become in recent years. Here are some of the key provisions: