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House and Senate back healthcare tax credit bill
Posted
1-31-2000 Washington. Efforts to use the tax code to lower the number of Americans without health insurance got a boost Jan. 26 with the unveiling of the first bill backed by Republicans and Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. The Health Coverage, Access, Relief, and Equity (CARE) Act would provide a tax credit of $1,000 for individuals with incomes up to $31,000, and $2,000 for families with incomes up to $51,000 who do not have access to subsidized health insurance through their employers. According to estimates prepared for legislators, about 3.2 million uninsured people and 5.5 million insured people would use the credit. "The Health CARE tax credit is targeted to those who are most in need of help, due to their lack of income, access to subsidized employment-based coverage, and eligibility for public programs," said Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., lead Senate sponsor of the bill. Sen. John Breaux, D-La., noting that taxpayers already subsidize employer-provided insurance to the tune of $76.2 billion per year, said "this addresses equity and fairness and how do we insure more of the nation's 44 million Americans who do not have health insurance." Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said no formal cost estimate has been completed, but he expects the bill to be about $70 billion over 10 years, compared to the $110 billion plan unveiled by President Clinton last week. Joining the senators at the press conference was House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who has been pushing the tax credit approach for more than a year. Also co-sponsoring the bill is Rep. Cal Dooley, D-Calif. While Armey said the bill was not as generous as the plan he introduced last year, he said it "begins to solve this problem." The bill, which will include provisions to shore up community health centers and other safety providers, is expected to be formally introduced in February.
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