In our last presidential election millions of Americans voted for hope and change. I tried to warn people about the kind of change they would get if they elected Barack Obama. They ignored me and voted for him anyway.

Then when he was elected I continued to speak out against him, and his policies. I was told to give him a chance, he hasn”t even been in office that I did not like him because he was black, or because he was a Democrat. Once again people ignored me.

Then, when Congress began work on the recently passed Health Care bill, I tried to warn people about the evils of government taking over the health care industry. People said our health care system is broke and Obama is going to fix it, and once again I was ignored.

Well, I sure hope people are happy now. I hope they will continue to be happy when they find out what kind of change they got, but I doubt it. You see, where I work we have employer provided health insurance. We pay a percentage of the cost for that insurance, while our employer picks up the rest of the tab.

I went online and did some checking. I found that a cheap plan, just for me would cost around $171 a month with Anthem. Then the prices go up to around $365 for a similar policy with Kaiser Permanente. Remember, this is just a single plan which does not include any family members.

So, if I feel that although my share of the insurance provided me by my company is a big bite out of my paycheck, it is nothing near to what it would cost me if I had to pay the entire cost myself. I can only imagine how much I would be paying for a multiple person policy which covered all my family members.

Then Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid had to go and screw with things. They passed this new law which is supposed to fix everything, provide insurance for those who did not have it, and make this country such a nicer place to live in.

Prior to this bill being passed, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

Well, all of you who thought that Barack Obama was such a bringer of hope and change, I have news for you. All of you who thought that fixing our health care system was such a grand idea, I have news for you.

The fact of the matter is this, if you already have employer provided health care, you may end up paying for it, and paying big time. Madame Pelosi said we need to pass the bill so we can read what is in it. Maybe we should have read it first.

You see, buried among all the legal mumbo jumbo, there is a section in that bill that is going to affect each and every person whose employer provides them with some form of health insurance.

Section 9001 states, and I am not making this up, “Title IX: Revenue Provisions – Subtitle A: Revenue Offset Provisions – (Sec. 9001, as modified by section 10901) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax of 40% of the excess benefit from certain high cost employer-sponsored health coverage. Deems any amount which exceeds payment of $8,500 for an employee self-only coverage plan and $23,000 for employees with other than self-only coverage (family plans) as an excess benefit. Increases such amounts for certain retirees and employees who are engaged in high-risk professions (e.g., law enforcement officers, emergency medical first responders, or longshore workers), imposes a penalty on employers and coverage providers for failure to calculate the proper amount of an excess benefit.

(Sec. 9002) Requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employee’s gross income (excluding the value of contributions to flexible spending arrangements).”

So, depending upon how much your employer pays for your health insurance, they may add that to your W2 as income for you, which in turn will raise your taxes.

For example, if your employer pays $5000 per year out of its pocket to provide you with medical insurance, you may find on your W2 that you have gotten a $5000 a year pay raise for which you are responsible to pay taxes on. If you are in a 25% tax bracket, that means you will owe an additional $1200 a year in taxes.

So, there is the change I was trying to warn you about. I hope you’re happy. I hope if you end up paying more taxes, you send your president a thank you note for the “change” he made in your life.

Whatever you do, don’t come crying to me, remember, I tried to warn you but you would not listen.

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?“

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal