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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Around Town / Congress / Politics / The Economy The Problem with Jim Cooper's Heath Care Plans

Posted by Pete Kotz on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 5:53 AM

click to enlarge Jim Cooper: He's assuming we'll all get raises
  • Jim Cooper: He's assuming we'll all get raises
Why Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper is wrong on health care, according to reader Terri Merritts: The problem with the Wynden-Bennett health care legislation that Jim Cooper favors is that it supposes too much. Employees moving out of worker health plans "supposedly" would get pay raises from their bosses that would match the cost of their new overpriced private health care plan so they could easily pay for it with no financial loss. If Jim Cooper really believes that, tell him I have some ocean front property in Las Vegas I'd like to sell him. He can't possibly be that naive! It has been my personal experience with corporate America that if a company reduces its expenses for any reason (such as not having to pay for employee health care), the greedy things gleefully grab the saved money and put it in their own pockets. They do not pass it on to either employees or customers. Look at the banks that got bailed out and are using the money to pay out multimillion dollar bonuses with it! Personally, I favor just putting the uninsured on the federal employees insurance plan and be done with it. Offer a sliding scale based on ability to pay and warn employers that if they drop the health care they currently offer, they will have to pay full price at their beloved market value for each person dropped. Terri Merritts Nashville

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As I understand it, the plan would require - not request - employers to convert employees' health care costs into wages. Since companies deduct this expense on their taxes (I think), it should be easy for the federal government to track.

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Posted by JS on August 18, 2009 at 7:35 AM

THis is good to know. What happens with freelance workers? Where do they go?
I thought JC did very well on Chris Matthews last night.

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Posted by stellabardo on August 18, 2009 at 10:26 AM

There's a fund set up for folks without an employer. Look up detailed studies of Healthy Americans Act by Lewin Group, Congressional Budget Office, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic.

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Posted by JS on August 18, 2009 at 3:01 PM

Jim Coooper on the Hot Seat:
Protesters are tired of Jim Cooper's dithering, and the pro-health care crowd showed up in force outside of Cooper's office today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBy8Iw6wnJ0

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Posted by Doug on August 22, 2009 at 5:16 PM
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