One in Four Union Members to be Hit With Health Insurance Tax

The Senate version of health care reform contains a tax on high end health insurance plans. A union survey indicates one in four union members will pay this tax.

Labor leaders say the tax would hit not only wealthy executives with expensive health benefits, but also many rank-and-file union members who have often settled for lower wage increases in exchange for more generous health benefits.

The tax would affect individual insurance policies with annual premiums above $8,500 and family policies above $23,000, which by one union survey would affect one in four union members.

Unions urged their members to vote for Barack Obama. One key point they hammered on was John McCain's proposal to tax health insurance benefits. McCain was proposing a tax credit to offset this tax for most people. President Obama campaigned again this proposal. He called it a middle-class tax increase. Here is the hard hitting video ad Obama ran against McCain's proposal to tax health insurance benefits.



President Obama has endorsed the Senate democrats' version of health insurance reform with the tax on the middle-class' benefits.

President Barack Obama signaled to House Democratic leaders Wednesday that they'll have to drop their opposition to taxing high-end health insurance plans to pay for health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans.

It is ironic that Barack Obama's broken pledge to not raise taxes on the middle-class is going to affect his Union supporters the most. Let's see the video of that promise one more time.



Hey union members! How is that hopey-changey thing working out for you now?