Tell Congress: Don't tax middle class health benefits; Dial 888-460-0813 now!

Jan. 12, 2010 - We all want health care reform – but we need to make sure it’s paid for the right way. Use the phone script below to tell your U.S. Representative to stand strong and stop any tax on middle class health benefits.

Here's where health care reform legislation stands now as Congress works to combine two bills.

• The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that pays for reform with a surtax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year. That’s the right way to pay for reform.

• The bill passed by the U.S. Senate, however, pays for reform the wrong way by slapping a 40 percent tax on our health care plans – the kind of plans that we have negotiated through our union, often at the expense of pay raises.

This week your member of Congress and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are negotiating a final bill – and they need to hear from you now.

If Congress decides to tax health care benefits for the first time in American history, middle class workers across America will pay the price.

The first thing employers will do is slash health care benefits to avoid the cost of the new tax. For years, workers have given up wage increases in order to protect their health benefits. Now, those workers and their families will lose the health benefits on which they rely.

Want to learn more about how an excise tax would impact Ohio workers? Download HCAN Factsheet: Taxing Middle Class Benefits - the wrong way to finance reform (PDF).

 HERE'S A SAMPLE PHONE SCRIPT:

Hello, my name is _________ and I live at ___________. I’m calling to tell Representative ________ to stand strong against a tax on middle class health benefits. I supported Democrats in 2008 because I was promised that I could keep my coverage and it wouldn’t be taxed. That promise must be kept by fixing the health benefits tax in the Senate bill.

The health care reform bill passed by the House of Representatives pays for reform the right way – with a tax on individuals who make over $500,000 a year. So as the House and Senate negotiate a final bill, I hope that Representative_________ will let Nancy Pelosi and other leaders know that I called to say that we can’t afford a tax on our health benefits.

Can I count on Representative __________ to stand strong against the middle class health benefits tax and take my concerns to Speaker Pelosi?

Thank you!

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See Related

Download and Share Action Alert (PDF)

Download HCAN Factsheet - Taxing Middle Class Benefits - the wrong way to finance reform (PDF)

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