Press Release - McHugh Calls On Colleagues To Make Health Care More Affordable, Accessible

McHUGH CALLS ON COLLEAGUES TO MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE

Asks House Panel to Consider Individual Tax Breaks for Private Health Insurance

WASHINGTON, D.C. - At a hearing today, Rep. John M. McHugh (R-NY) called on his colleagues in Congress to consider legislation that would help individuals and families better afford health insurance. McHugh testified before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures about his bill, H.R. 4219, the Health Insurance Tax Relief Act, which would provide taxpayers a refundable credit against income tax for the purchase of private health insurance.

"For most Americans, the tax code is a thing of intimidation and, in some people's minds, even punishment," McHugh said. "This legislation is a way we can proactively use the code to address one of the issues of utmost importance to our nation - that of making health care affordable and accessible to all Americans. It is an issue that defies a single answer. However, I firmly believe that this bill can serve as a path - a step in the right direction to help the millions of Americans who work hard and pay taxes, but at the end of the month are still left without the financial resources to afford their own health insurance."

Following the testimony, the subcommittee's Ranking Member, Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY), noted that the scope of McHugh's proposal addresses a critical issue, and thanked his New York colleague for contributing to a solution.

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Congressman McHugh's written testimony submitted to the Subcommittee follows:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify today on an issue of great importance - not only to the residents of my Central and Northern New York Congressional District, but also to citizens across the nation.

As you well know, tens of millions of Americans today live without health insurance - 15.9 percent on national average and nearly 14 percent of them New Yorkers, according to recent estimates. In traveling throughout my District, I have found that the biggest fears associated with this issue span both the present and the future - that of spiraling health care costs for individuals and businesses, concerns about lack of coverage in the event of job change or job loss, and the shortage of accessible and affordable health care.

A number of months ago, I held a series of forums in my District to personally hear from health care providers about the challenges that communities such as mine face in ensuring access, availability and affordability of health care for our largely rural region. As the front line of defense in providing health care, their ongoing input on ways to improve its delivery continues to be critical. During our sessions, we spoke about a wide variety of issues, including recruiting and retaining health professionals, providing resources for rural-based care, establishing a health information technology infrastructure, and making insurance more available to all Americans.

Undoubtedly, all of these topics are important to ensuring our citizens receive quality health care. However, it is the latter of these issues that I wish to focus on today, Mr. Chairman.

In addition to the millions of individuals and families who cannot afford health insurance premiums, many Americans in large measure lack the ability to take federal income tax deductions under our current tax laws. Low- and middle-income taxpayers who do not have employer-based insurance or are not self-employed simply need our help. My legislation, the Health Insurance Tax Relief Act, is designed to help remedy this situation by allowing taxpayers a refundable credit against income tax for the purchase of private health insurance. These tax credits would range from $1,000 for an individual, $2,000 for a married couple, and $500 per child, with a cap of $3,000 per family. For any insurance premium costs that exceed these amounts, an additional credit of 50 percent is also permitted.

Qualified taxpayers could easily claim the credit when filing their tax return and use it to either offset additional amounts they owe or to obtain a larger refund. A taxpayer could even benefit throughout the tax year by adjusting withholding tax amounts and realizing higher take home pay. The proposal also directs that advance payments of credit amounts be made to the provider of the taxpayer's health insurance.

I am fully aware this is not a new idea, Mr. Chairman, as refundable income tax credits for health insurance have become a recurring topic of conversation in recent years. Some of my colleagues have introduced identical or similar legislation in this and previous Congresses, which have gained the support of dozens of Members from across the nation.

Clearly, there is no one silver bullet that will solve our nation's health care crisis and this proposal is not meant to be the only approach we as a Congress could take in addressing affordability and accessibility issues. However, like my colleagues, I believe it is a good starting point. This change to the tax laws would be an important move toward closing the gap for so many individuals and families who work hard and pay taxes, but at the end of the month are still left without the financial resources to afford their own health insurance.

gain, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss my legislation with you today and welcome any comments or questions.

http://mchugh.house.gov/pr2006/092606HR4219.html