In their review of House Budget Committee chairman Tom Price’s newly released Obamacare alternative, Bloomberg’s editors strain to make a virtue out of Obamacare’s maddening complexity. Whereas no one knows until tax time the following year what, if anything, they will be getting in subsidies under Obamacare, Price’s alternative offers tax credits in three simple amounts. It also lets Americans quickly see what they will be getting immediately, and does not compel them to buy health insurance against their will. Bloomberg’s editors object to such refreshing simplicity, writing, “The reason Obamacare subsidies are complicated is so people can get affordable coverage, whatever their age, at the lowest government cost. Because premiums vary enormously — by age, type of coverage and geography — that necessarily entails something more complex and flexible than three numbers set by Congress.”
These “three numbers” refer to the value of Price’s non-income-tested, refundable tax credits for those who purchase health insurance on the private market. Those aged 18 to 34 years old would receive a tax credit worth $1,200; those 35 to 49 years old would receive $2,100; and those 50 to 64 would receive $3,000. Parents, meanwhile, would get a $900 tax credit for each child.These tax credits would bring more equality to the tax code without upsetting the health care of the 169 million Americans who receive employer-based coverage.
