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Obamacare's Tax War on Women

Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and employers. Five are especially-harmful for women, be they Moms, singles, or retirees.

The jobs-killing Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and employers.  Many of these tax increases fall on families making less than $250,000--a direct violation of candidate Obama's promise not to raise "any form" of taxes on these families.  In less than a week, the second anniversary of Obamacare being signed into law will take place.  The Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments about the constitutionality of Obamacare next week.

Out of the 20 new or higher taxes in Obamacare, here are the five that most hurt women:

Individual Mandate non-compliance excise tax.  Under Obamacare, if you do not purchase "qualifying health insurance" by 2014, you face an excise tax mandate which reaches at least 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income by 2016.  Women will be forced to spend money on health insurance that they may neither need nor want.  Some may find that their existing health insurance, which they like, is suddenly deemed "not qualified" by the government.  This mandate endangers the ability of women to keep their own doctors and their own health insurance plan.  What was that President Obama said?  "If you like your plan, you can keep it."
 
"Cadillac plan" excise tax.  Obamacare imposes in 2018 a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans (defined as premiums exceeding $10,200 for singles and $27,500 for families).  Some women want or need higher cost plans due to chronic health conditions, growing families, or other essential healthcare needs.  To tax women who have the highest healthcare costs is a cruel double blow.
 
Medicine Cabinet Tax.  This tax increase on women is already in effect.  Since January of 2011, women have not been able to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines from their flex-spending accounts or health savings accounts.  Women rely on over-the-counter medicines to get themselves and their families through the colds, fevers, and aches and pains of daily family life.  To raise taxes on busy Moms makes absolutely no sense.
 
Flex-Account Cap.  Starting in 2013, the amount that working women and their families can put into workplace "flex accounts" will be capped at $2500 per worker.  Like the medicine cabinet tax, this arbitrary middle class tax hike will be most seen by the primary health care consumers for most families--women.  For many families, some health care out of pocket costs will no longer be pre-tax.  This will be particularly-cruel for families with special needs children, who have high out-of-pocket medical costs and often use pre-tax flex accounts to ease the burden for them.
 
Tanning Tax.  Here is another tax increase which has already taken effect, in July of 2010.  Since then, Obamacare has imposed a 10% excise tax on tanning bed sessions.  According to that industry, the majority of tanning salon owners are female entrepreneurs.  The majority of customers of tanning salons are women.  Women should not be targeted in this way by Obamacare or the tax code.  The tanning tax should be repealed.
 
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Posted by Ryan Ellis on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 9:01 AM EDT

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