Tony Zirkle for Congress

Visitor #46522

Health Care/Medical Insurance

2008

I"m upping the donut hole for no payroll tax from $90,000 to $250,000 where no payroll tax would be paid. Additionally, I'm very uncomfortable about raising taxes; however, if the democrats continue to increase their power in Congress and get the White House as well, the increasing public outcry for universal, single payor health insurance will lead to much higher taxes than I'm proposing. We can not afford universal coverage now, but if we followed my plans on taking out the porn cults, we'd see an unprecedented economic boom.

2006

State and county governments pay about $11,000 per year for medical insurance for each of their employees. That money is charged to your property taxes. Some businesses are paying twice as much in medical costs per employees than they did three years ago. High medical insurance costs are rapidly becoming one of the main reasons why companies export jobs and why workers strike.

I believe that anyone who works 40-50 hours a week deserves affordable medical coverage at around $3,000 per year. I am proposing a plan that caps the exposure of insurance companies to around $25,000 per year. We have limits on homeowners and automobile insurance, and these limits keep premiums fairly reasonable. People are always entitled to purchase excess umbrella policies.

By removing the catastrophic claims from the system, we can dramatically reduce coverage for individuals and families. We can fund the catastrophic claims by reintroducing the payroll tax on the top 1-2% of incomes above $200,000 while preserving the payroll tax exemptions for the middle class between $87,000 and $200,000. Healthy workers produce. Sick ones do not. It is not more likely that a family will file bankruptcy than divorce. Health insurance, besides divorce, is a leading factor in driving millions to bankruptcy. Workers that have economic stability and those that can build up at least a small nest egg, will produce more than those who have no hope of escaping the confines of mass medical bill debt.