Honest analysis takes a stomach punch. Real economists give all the facts.
Senior economics writer for the Wall Street Journal Stephen Moore told Fox News that 75% of the healthcare reform’s ACA taxes will fall on the middle class, those families making under $120,000. It is unfortunate that the headlines and his statements are giving a misleading interpretation to his assessment.
First, it stands to reason that the middle class will account for a disproportionate share of the tax receipts because the majority of Americans are middle class. This is akin to saying that most of the Medicare beneficiaries will be over 65 year of age. No surprise there since that is when most Americans become eligible for Medicare.
Second, only those individuals and families that choose NOT to purchase health insurance will be subject to the tax. Middle class families that already have health insurance won’t be taxed. Many families, who we acknowledge to be middle class, may very well be eligible for subsidies.
Finally, these are not taxes to fund the Accountable Care Act. These are taxes in lieu of purchasing health insurance. They apply to all Americans regardless of income. For Mr. Moore to say, “It’s a big punch in the stomach to middle class families.” is to completely misrepresent the facts of the situation. While he may be an economist, he is obviously pandering to a constituency that is looking for reasons to cast aspersions on healthcare reform.
A fair and balanced analysis would have given a real assessment of the actual percentage of people who might be expected to qualify for the tax because they did not purchase health insurance. But it is much easier to throw a statistic and hope an uninformed anchor person won’t ask any probing questions that would push you off message.