David Gregory Apologizes For Mistake About Medicare Surtax Under Obamacare (VIDEO)

WATCH: David Gregory Apologizes For Mistake

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

David Gregory issued a correction about health care reform on Sunday's "Meet the Press."

Last week, the NBC News host erroneously claimed that "anybody who gets a paycheck in this country" now has to pay a Medicare surtax. He prefaced that statement by saying, "I don't understand all the ins and outs of the employer mandate and how that works," but added that he was sure about the new tax. The mistake was noted by the media watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting.

On Sunday, he walked that claim back. Gregory said:

We've been talking about Obamacare a couple of times during the program. I want to correct something that I said last week in our discussion about it. I made the observation that people getting a paycheck would observe that they were all subject to a Medicare surtax. I was not right about that.

The only people who are subject to it are those who make $200,000 or more, or a couple filing jointly making more than $250,000. That's the only time that that surtax applies. So I was mistaken in my conversation about that, and I apologize.

The new legislation levies a 3.8% tax on wages, as well as certain types of investment incomes, for high-earning filers. It is the first surtax on capital gains and dividend income, Reuters reported last year.

Before You Go

1979
Laura S. L. Kong via Getty Images
1979
Laura S. L. Kong via Getty Images
1990
Joe Wrinn/Harvard University via Getty Images
1990
Joe Wrinn/Harvard University via Getty Images
1990
Boston Globe via Getty Images
1990s
2000
2004
2005
Alex Wong via Getty Images
2005
Albert L. Ortega via Getty Images
2005
Jed Jacobsohn via Getty Images
2006
Getty Images
2007
2007
Bloomberg via Getty Images
2007
Getty Images
2008
Getty Images
2009
Brooks Kraft via Getty Images
2009
Jim Young / Reuters
2009
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
2011
Pool via Getty Images
2011
The Washington Post via Getty Images
2011
Pool via Getty Images
2012
AFP
2013
NICHOLAS KAMM via Getty Images
2013
MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
2013
JEWEL SAMAD via Getty Images
2013
MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images
2014
Alex Wong via Getty Images
2014
WHITE HOUSE POOL (ISP POOL IMAGES) via Getty Images
2014
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
2015
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
2015
YURI GRIPAS via Getty Images
2015
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
2016
Pool via Getty Images
2016
YURI GRIPAS via Getty Images
2016
NICHOLAS KAMM via Getty Images
2016
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images
2017
Jack Brockway via Getty Images
2017
NICHOLAS KAMM via Getty Images
2017
Barcroft Media via Getty Images
2017
Fotogramma / Splash News
2017
Associated Press
2017
Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images
Obama speaks at Goalkeepers 2017, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
2017
Scott Halleran via Getty Images
Presidents Obama, G.W. Bush and Bill Clinton pose at the first tee during the first round of the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey.
2017
Chris Jackson via Getty Images
Obama and Prince Harry enjoy the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada.
2017
Scott Olson via Getty Images
Former first Lady Michelle and former president Barack Obama are introduced at the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago.
2018
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Obama walks by his presidential portrait at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
2018
Getty Editorial
Obama attends a powhiri with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
2018
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images
Obama attends the 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple Of Hope Awards.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot