Cross-posted with the Oxdown Gazette.

From mccainhealthtax.com, my McCain Health Tax:

MCCAIN HEALTH TAX IN 2013 : $ 394
MCCAIN HEALTH TAX IN 2018 : $ 1181

It would be a shame if, amid the implosion of Ted Stevens and (dare I say?) the McCain campaign, healthcare got lost in the mix. I can’t overstate its importance in this election, and the choice is a pretty stark one: a McCain plan that raises raises taxes on the middle class, kicks 20,000,000 Americans off of their employer health insurance and 5,000,000 off insurance altogether, OR an Obama plan that insures millions more Americans – including all children – attacks disparities in care and lets government negotiate for drug prices.

So I’m glad someone took the time to throw together this clever little McCain Health Tax Calculator. It comes in site and widget form, it’s high-impact, it’s easy to use, and a pretty compelling reminder that John McCain wants to raise taxes on the middle class by taxing – for the first time ever – employer health benefits as though they were our income. Just go to the site, enter some basic information, and get back your tax hike. And now, a bit of explanation as to why it’s like that.

This from the McCain Health Tax site:

We’re using the data from the Center for American Progress Action Fund‘s recent report,
“A 50-State Analysis of John McCain’s Health Care Plan”. We haven’t made any changes or modifications to it (in fact, you can find the exact numbers we’re using in a table on page 14 of this document)!

But here’s the basic idea of it:

  • John McCain gives many Americans a $5000 tax credit to pay for healthcare. (This is the part he’s happy to tell you!)
  • To pay for that tax credit, he taxes – for the first time ever – your employer-provided healthcare benefits as though they were your income. (This part, he talks about less!)
  • In many cases, the difference between the McCain tax hike and his $5000 credit means a tax hike on day one.
  • But even for the few people who do start out with a tax cut, it won’t last long, because:
  • McCain’s tax credit grows every year at the speed of inflation, which is about 2%.
  • But the cost of healthcare grows over three times faster every year: ~6%! This means that every year, the McCain tax grows and grows. It’s a stealth tax, and it falls hardest on the middle class.

There you have it.