Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Democrats to the nation - Watch us rush through a plan to mess up another 16% of the economy

So with combined high-pressure tactics, outright bribery in order to rush through a multi-thousand page bil so obama can get a Christmas present.

Of course rushing through a massive alteration of the way the nation handles health care leads to unintended consequences (unintended hell, if they weren't intendedm the changes wouldn't be in the bill!) such as the destruction of the Flexible Savings Account.
How will health care reform impact my flexible spending account?
A.

Currently, the cap for contributions to flexible spending accounts is about $4,500 on average nationally, according to Save Flexible Spending Plans, an organization dedicated to protecting flexible spending accounts, also known as FSAs. But this cap is likely to drop to $2,500, as both the House and Senate bills lower the cap to that amount with the aim of helping the government collect more tax revenue.

“Unfortunately, the FSA is an unintended consequence of health care reform,” said Jody Dietel, executive director of Save Flexible Spending Plans. “They were identified early on as a source of revenue rather than as sound health care policy.”

In terms of differences between the bills, under the House bill, consumers can’t use these accounts to pay for over-the-counter medications, while under the Senate bill, consumers can use the accounts to pay for such medications if they get a prescription from their doctor. In addition, under the Senate bill, FSAs will be included in calculating the taxes insurers (and ultimately companies and individuals) will be hit with if they offer more generous plans, which could further encourage employers to drop such plans.
Of course this results in more taxable transactions and hence more revenue...any bets on whether its really an "unintended consequence".

It used to be that before you ran roughshod over a major portion of the economy and passed laws to drastically affect everyday life for all Americans, that you'd take your time, analyze the possibilities and come up with something workable.

Instead, it seems the Democrats are in a tizzy to get something, anything, shoved through the legislative process and into law and to hell with the unintended and very real and intended consequences.

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