Why Obamacare Is A Tax Cut For Millions Of Americans

As Republican heads continue to explode after the Supreme Court's historic confirmation of the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Law, they seem to be working overtime coming up with as many different ways to lie about the Law. That is, of course, except for those Right Wingers who are so "disgusted with the socialist government takeover of the health care system" that they're thinking of moving to Canada [not a joke!].

So far the leading lie seems to be the so-called "Massive Tax Increases" that are nowhere to be found in the law. The reality is that any additional costs associated with the law will only affect at most 5% of the population, most people will see no additional costs at all, and according to a new report, over 28 million Americans will be receiving a tax credit. Add those 28 million to the millions of others who have already begun to receive REBATES from their health insurers (to the tune of $1.1 billion dollars so far) thanks to the law's provision that at least 80% of premium payments be applied to actual medical care rather than a backup private jet for the CEO.

Article excerpt follows:

Why Obamacare Is A Tax Cut For Millions Of Americans
By Pat Garofalo
Jun 29, 2012

Following the Supreme Court's ruling yesterday that Obamacare, the 2010 health care law, is constitutional under Congress' ability to tax, Republicans have launched a full court press calling the individual mandate a "massive tax hike." But as ThinkProgress noted yesterday, there is no massive tax hike: few people will ever pay the penalty, and those who do will pay less than the amount of the payroll tax increase that Republicans nearly allowed to occur.

In addition, according to a report from Families USA, 28.6 million Americans, most of them middle-class, will receive tax cuts under the bill due to entering health care exchanges and receiving affordability credits:

We found that an estimated 28.6 million Americans will be eligible for the tax credits in 2014, and that the total value of the tax credits that year will be $110.1 billion. The new tax credits will provide much-needed assistance to insured individuals and families who struggle harder each year to pay rising premiums, as well as to uninsured individuals and families who need help purchasing coverage that otherwise would be completely out of reach financially. Most of the families who will be eligible for the tax credits will be employed, many for small businesses, and will have incomes between two and four times poverty (between $44,100 and $88,200 for a family of four based on 2010 poverty guidelines).

In addition to these tax credits and the fact that more than 30 million Americans will have new access to health insurance, the health care law will help create millions of jobs.