Listen to Past Shows | Ric Edelman

Listen to Past Shows Ric Edelman

If you do nothing else, listen to the first five minutes of this radio broadcast. Just click through to the 3/27/10 broadcast. Ric addresses the direct costs of the new healthcare legislation, in dollars and cents. Costs to you, costs to businesses.

THIS is why I did NOT want this plan to pass, in its current form.

I have no objection to working together, both Congress and the people and businesses of the United States, to come up with a plan to help those who, for reasons beyond their control, cannot help themselves at this time.

I do NOT believe in a giant welfare program for people who do not want to help themselves - that hits a little too close to home for my comfort.

There are certain things I have no problem with - a tax on tanning salons, for instance. That's a luxury, whether or not you believe in them for health reasons, and if I have to pay a tax when/if I use one, so be it.

I DO have a problem with a 62% increawse in Medicare payroll tax in 2013. I will still be working and this DOES affect me, directly.

I DO have a problem with a NEW 3/8% tax on investment income, which includes divident interest, rental income, capital gains - I already pay taxes on this income.

I don't have a problem with a flat $2.00 surcharge on my insurance plan. I'm paying my premiums already and this will not take food out of my mouth or clothes off my back, and it is a way to generate some incremental money that can be used to supply care to people who need it.

Which brings up another point: health insurance is not a right. It is a privilege. If you pay for it, you can have it. If you can't afford it, you are not tossed out into the street without healthcare. You can go and get care in any hospital, which is obligated by law to provide it to you whether you have insurance or not. And of COURSE, those who go into ERs for a cold or the flu increase costs to those of us paying for those same services. THIS is where we have to come up with some sort of alternate plan. BUT to arbitrarily pass this bill, in its current form - NO EFFIN' WAY. I am against it and will be until it's in a form that works for all and penalizes none.

I do NOT have a problem paying sales tax on medical devices and I thank them for excluding eyeglasses, contacts and hearing aids. This is another way to earn a little extra money for the program. If this is ANOTHER 2.9% tax, on top of my current sales tax, which is 7%, then YES, I DO have a problem with that. Why not address the current tax code and direct current sales tax incurred on medical devices, and paid for by me and everyone else who buys them, directly to healthcare for uninsured people?

For employers with 50+ employees who do NOT provide healthcare for said employees, there will be a $2000 fee PER EMPLOYEE to be paid to the government. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Due to the elimination of any government subsidy to employers for providing retirees with prescription plan, there are seniors who will not have access to a prescription plan???? Those people are on limited incomes - can my mother afford her medication without some sort of prescription plan? NO! Will I be able to? NO? Will my husband? NO.

I am currently punished for being in relatively good health; regardless of how much I spend out-of-pocket, if it is $1 shy of 7.5% of my AGI I can't deduct it. And that's going UP to 10%!!!

Thanks to Ric Edelman for putting this out there. This broadcast should be played everywhere, aired everywhere, so people can really hear what they just voted into being.