New at Reason: Peter Suderman on ObamaCare’s Unseen Costs
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is chock full of tax hikes on everything from indoor tanning beds to Medicare prescription drug plans. It adds a Medicare surtax to a high-earner’s wages and increases the income threshold at which individuals can begin to deduct medical expenses on their tax returns. It sets up a top limit for how much employers can deposit into an employee’s flexible spending account tax free and increases the penalty for spending health-savings account funds on items the federal government doesn’t define as health care. And for certain high-earners, it even adds a new tax on expensive residential real estate sales. According to official estimates, the law directly raises some $420 billion in new revenue. But the official estimates don't account for the law's hidden costs. Overall, writes Associate Editor Peter Suderman, the true cost of ObamaCare will be greater than you might think.
