Durbin: U.S. Already Paying A "Hidden Tax" On Health Care

WASHINGTON — A top Democratic lawmaker says Americans are already paying a "hidden tax" to provide health care for the uninsured.

The Illinois Democrat who is his party's No. 2 official in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin, says that there is a $1,000 surcharge in health care premiums to cover people who receive treatment in emergency rooms.

Durbin says President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the health system would reduce premiums and add more people to health care rolls. That, he says, would have a net effect of lowering the costs.

Durbin says Obama's plan would allow those with insurance to keep their plan if they like it. Nothing would change, he says, unless individuals choose to switch.

Durbin appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Comments

[Bruins97]

02:24 PM on 06/15/2009

Mass of Illegals getting health care??? I'm American and i dont even have health care right now....I wish I knew how all of these sneaky illegals were so wise as to procure all of this medical care.....Post some stats to help out instead of randomly flaming out some over used nonsense....

So you mean to tell me that they can catch all of these crack dealers in the city to fill our prisons but we cant stop the shipments coming in (kickbacks work wonders huh)? Same with immigration as long as its good for business' to exploit people there will be obvious holes in immigration.....

P.S. you also might want to return those subsidies you get because the illegals that do all those menial tasks that you get charged full boat for are subsidizing your life.

[dianhow]

04:05 PM on 06/15/2009

A couple of facts:
FAct # 1 Reagan passed a blanket amnesty for all illegals in the 80 's .( deregulation too )
But he did DID NOT bother to secure' the borders ' after that.- BIG MISTAKE.
FACT:# 2
The GOP has been in power for 20 of the last 28 years - Reagan 8 / Bush Sr 4 / W 8 years . Many of those 20 years with a friendly GOP congress. The GOP wants illegals to come into the US Why ? So their GOP base- Corp America - big oil- big pharma- and Co's who sent jobs overseas could ' prosper ' even more / They wanted all that very cheap labor so they would make more millions- at OUR expense. SO we now have 15 - 20 mil - illegals - so who knows what if anything will be done now. Likely NOT.
You GOP types out there - Ask yourself what you would say if the Dems had been in power for 20 long years - YOU would crucify them !!

[Bruins97]

02:13 PM on 06/16/2009

I still want to see legitimate numbers from posters crying out about costs of illegal immigration. I always hear the cry and nothing legit to back it up.

Companies rip us off and get regulated...and people cry out "its intereference with the invisible hand of the free market" and "Unamerican" but when theres a even a hint of welfare fraud its considered rampant fraud and the all welfare has to be stopped.......I think our economic system is designed to have some percent of unemployment at all times.....with no safety net are you volunteering to be the unemployed?

Everything has costs but so often the benefits are ignored......everyone wants to cry about increased cost to pay for services for of illegals.....but what about the savings in cost of goods from cheap labor? If your taxes went up $20 per per year to pay these costs but you save $1 a week at the grocery store ($4 bucks a week and $52 bucks a year)....thats a net gain to your pocket book of $32 bucks. Of course, Im making up these numbers but the point is you gotta look at sides to see why things happen......

The argument is always "these people" are destroying our economy? please......it could be controlled and its not for a reason and it subsidizes everyones lifestyle. People are really saying that they want $20 bucks back and want to keep the $32 too...short-sighted, ill informed generalities are silly

[lwaxanatroi]

11:52 AM on 06/15/2009

Sen. Durbin is on the money. One of the dirty little secrets of our politically-run economy is that there are a lot of hidden taxes lurking in the underbrush. Our GOP buddies rant and rave whenever an up-front tax gets discussed, but hidden taxes just float past everyone without comment. This could be a major Dem talking point if we chose to make it one. Unearth the hidden taxes. Show the middle class the degree to which they pay more than they think they do. Even those lucky citizens with great employer-based coverage ought to know they could be taking home a higher salary if their health care came from somewhere else. No free lunch, friends. We all pay one way or another.

[Firbolg]

01:29 PM on 06/15/2009

Amen.

[olmossy]

09:16 AM on 06/15/2009

Let's see With Insurance Compays the administration cost are over 30%. Medicaid and medicare are 2%.

No wonder the Republicans don't want a Public option. The Insurance companies won't have as much bribe money for the Government.

[dianhow]

04:13 PM on 06/15/2009

Exactly

[rollingdivision]

09:06 AM on 06/15/2009

Durbin is good with data, using his insider information to accumulate his personal fortune.

“The Illinois senator’s 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock, the disclosure shows.”

[dianhow]

04:12 PM on 06/15/2009

None of these guys are lacking in millions. of dollars.
AT least Obama made his money writing books and speaking. - before that - he had little- and
got a scholarship to go to Harvard. he is NO elite. McCain - yes
McCain ' advisor ' Phil Gramm and wife are ' crooks - unethical ' .
Google the Enron loophole Gramm and wife should be in jail.
His wife made 900 K off the Enron scandal as a lobbyist !!
GOP policy of deregulation made that ' perfectly legal '
Rotten.

[dianhow]

04:13 PM on 06/15/2009

REpubs / DEM ? they all have crooks in their midst. lets Move on.

[olmossy]

10:03 AM on 06/16/2009

Move on to what ? A bought and paid for Government.

" I hope we shall crush in It's birth the Aristocracy of our Monyied Coorporations, Which dare Allready to challaange our Gogernment ot a trial of strength And to bid difiance to the laws of THEIR country."
T Jefferson 1816

[Firbolg]

01:22 AM on 06/15/2009

The cost of services provided to the uninsured is only one part of the "hidden tax" paid under our dysfunctional health care system. It is dwarfed by the bloated administration costs and profits of the insurance industry. As I have posted elsewhere, the jobs of people working in what is called health insurance are not real. They are a form of welfare funded by what amounts to a tax on people using healthcare services, sanctioned by Congress in a way that avoids passing the money through the Treasury. With a single payer system this subsidy would be eliminated and we could pay people providing a real service better - doctors nurses and other care givers - and hire more of them and still have money left over. Anyone who does not immediately see that a single payer system is the real solution is in need of mental health services on an emergency basis themselves!

[rollingdivision]

09:09 AM on 06/15/2009

Exactly how much money does the health insurance industry make? What is their return on investment? How do the insurance industry's profits, margins, return on investment and return on stockholders equity compare against other industries? What are the average administrative costs in the health insurance industry? How does that compare with other industries and government programs?

[1differentdrummer]

10:33 AM on 06/15/2009

Aren't insurance company administration costs estimated at from 20 to 30%? Isn't Medicare estimated at 2% cost? Some difference, huh?

[Firbolg]

01:28 PM on 06/15/2009

It s not just what the medical insurance makes or their ROI - it’s that the entire cash flow into that "industry" is a waste of resources. The same, if not better, results could be achieved for a tiny fraction of that amount and one more lobbying pack eliminated. Better health care all around and a small step back to democracy for the US. Let’s do it!

[jimme]

01:15 AM on 06/15/2009

It's time to get off theat "share holer's" first mentaltiy and make health care non-profit.
I feel it's wrong for a handful of people getting rich from other people's suffering.

[fabricnthreads]

08:27 AM on 06/15/2009

Seems kind of immoral, doesn't it? I have always thought that, too. It would be, IMO, like owning a tobacco plantation and raking in billions while people die of lung cancer.

Denying benefits to sick people so you earn a bonus or get a raise? How do you feel good about wealth gained at the expense of the health of people needed treatment they are denied?

If I worked for an insurance company and made treatment authorizations, I would approve everyone for everything.

[dianhow]

04:17 PM on 06/15/2009

GOP policy likes it that way.
Who you we think their ' BASE ' IS ?

[moodpost]

12:08 AM on 06/15/2009

People, can we just do this health care thing already.? The honorable Senator is spot on.

[Shavano]

11:48 PM on 06/14/2009

My stepson who is a Republican, recently was in an auto accident with no insurance. Severe injuries and more than $45K in medical bills. He didn't pay them, guess who did? It was you and me. I spoke to him recently and asked him why he wouldn't support universal health care and do you know he said that because he didn't want to pay for people without health care. When I asked him what did he think about the fact that we already paid for his health care, he said: "I'll pay it back some day through taxes and Medicare." Holy cow!

[Chaimirija]

07:29 AM on 06/15/2009

no, not surprised...

[elizlucinda]

07:39 AM on 06/15/2009

He is very lucky it is against the law to deny anyone medical coverage.

[tbonehead]

11:41 PM on 06/14/2009

I wonder how many of the tea baggers had health insurance on tea bag day?

[LeeCalif]

10:46 PM on 06/14/2009

Oh, forgot, you will get 24 jobs, Chicagoland.

wow.

[LeeCalif]

10:44 PM on 06/14/2009

People in Chicagoland will really need that public healthcare option now since along with the local cancer-causing nuclear reactor, the deal for the colossal dirty coal plant that will attempt to capture the carbon dioxide and risk having a CO2 oxygen-sucking cloud(s) drift over the populated areas.

[CintiBlue]

10:11 PM on 06/14/2009

Fool.

I'm uninsured and have paid my way and know that we are charged more than insured right off the bat.

Everyone needs relief. I want Cheney/McCain coverage.

[CintiBlue]

10:17 PM on 06/14/2009

Apologies to Sen. Durbin. I had the vapors and didn't realize he just might be making sense.

[keepacoolhead]

11:08 PM on 06/14/2009

I think you were right with asking for the Cheney/McCain coverage. Both receive the same fine coverage congress members get same as Durbin and Kennedy. I'l be for that.

[Chaimirija]

07:30 AM on 06/15/2009

everyone should at least get the tax break

[Coinyer101]

08:16 PM on 06/14/2009

The plan doesn't go far enough, IMO. Single-payer or your probably just wasting everybody's time.

[themodernleader]

08:12 PM on 06/14/2009

Periodically, Senator Durbin comes forth with rational ideas based upon accurate information and knowledge. In a legislative body that was once the greatest deliberative body in the world, Senator Durbin is viewed with suspiciton and distrust by many of his colleagues for not only respecting , but upholding and speaking the truth. He should do it on a regular basis, his colleagues be damned.

[dennisrs]

08:04 PM on 06/14/2009

One thing that worries me concerning all these great plans in other countries is that you don't see any "honest" 3rd party surveys or audits concerning the pros and cons. Almost official info all info is pro and any cons is considered right wing-neocon-nut job propaganda. No system is perfect but when a system does not publish the negative a person has to wonder, shouldn't we?

[JackNasty]

12:46 AM on 06/15/2009

You're not searching thoroughly enough.

[dennisrs]

09:18 AM on 06/15/2009

Can you guide me to some of those answers?

[elizlucinda]

07:43 AM on 06/15/2009

Why don't you ask Canadians if they want to give up their health care coverage for the American system? Let me know how many affirmative responses you get on that one.......