Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
15.3%. Does that seem a little high? If you check your paycheck, the amount of money that is actually deducted from your paycheck for Social Security and Medicare is only 7.65%. Employers, however, pay an equal amount of taxes on your behalf (i.e., an additional 7.65%). Previous studies have indicated that all taxes employers pay…
The government will shut down…the government won’t shut down…Compromise! Finally, the Federal government has came to a compromise to reduce our swelling national debt. Or have they? The chart below shows that cutting the deficit has a lot about rhetoric and little about substance. Congress did save $78.5 billion in their latest agreement. Since the…
The UK explored selling or leasing forest land to private interests, but encounter some public backlash. “The plans were intended to give the private sector, community and charitable groups greater involvement in woodlands by encouraging a “mixed model” of ownership. But critics argued it could threaten public access, biodiversity and result in forests being used…
Yesterday, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released a proposal for reducing the national debt. The full report can be found here and relies on five key pillars. These are: Enact tough discretionary spending caps and provide $200 billion in illustrative domestic and defense savings in 2015. Pass tax reform that dramatically reduces…
Most people don’t think so. This is not a phenomenon specific to the United States. According to a BBC survey: “The figures vary from nation to nation, but the general picture is that people do not feel their taxes are well spent. In Columbia and Pakistan, the average estimate of the amount of tax not…
How does the price of health insurance affect the probability that a firm will offer health insurance to their workers? A previous post provides a variety of estimates of the elasticity of firm health insurance offering with respect to premiums. A more recent article by Gruber and Lettau (2004) needs to be added to this…
The health reform bills currently propose introduce health insurance subsidies for individuals who do not qualify for health insurance provided by the government. The goal of these subsidies is to make health insurance more affordable for the lower and middle class. The subsidies gradually decrease for higher income levels. In “Obama’s Prescription for Low-Wage Workers,”…
The USA Today writes that “the IRS has proposed a broad initiative that would require hundreds of thousands of tax preparers to register with the government, pass a competency exam and adhere to ethical standards.” This sounds like a good idea as it will safeguard individuals from unscrupulous tax preparers. But who will this truly…
On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled a plan to use repaid TARP monies to fund a job creation program. The question is, can the government actually create jobs? Initially, one would say yes. If the government hires more workers, this is job creation. If the government hires more contractors, this is job creation. If the government…
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Actuary projects Medicare costs up to 75 years in the future. How much of your taxable income will be going to pay for Medicare in the next 10, 25, or 75 years? Take a look at this chart. By 2085, 12.24% of your taxable income will need to…