The President and Congress have been taking the wrong approach to successfully achieving health care and tax reform. They are addressing the symptoms of our health care and tax reform issues, not the sources of the problems. Plus Congress is protecting the personal and special interest benefits of an income tax system.
This plan is designed to address the source, reduce government’s role in Health Care and provide Tax Reform which will get more people working and off Medicaid, to lower the costs of medical care thus making it more affordable and easier to find a solution for our health care. The reduction in Medicaid enrollment will justify less funding for it.
This plan will also require collaboration with and from the Democratic Party in order to minimize resistance.
Most importantly, it is required that President Trump be tuned in to the details of what these efforts are and use his pulpit to inform the public of what is being done and why. This is more than simple bullet points. It requires providing sufficient detail to have the public knowledgeable enough to identify faulty claims from any opposition.
Assistance will be needed from the President’s staff and from the Senate and House members so everyone is talking from the same play book. American’s must feel they are a part of the solution while having a better understanding what the problems really are. Much of this information will come from the industries involved and the “President’s committee on Health Reform”.
With the public aware of what is being done and why, hopefully, this approach will unify Congress and American’s and they will agree that what is being done is for the prosperity and well-being of all rather than what some (socialist) country is doing. Public knowledge and enough interested voters will force Congressional members to serve American’s and not themselves or be voted out.
Without the above activities, the D.C. Elites and special interests will make accomplishing the plan difficult if not impossible. Furthermore, if the public is not advised of what is going on so they are knowledgeable and comfortable with the plan, they won’t show their support to the Congress and President and force the change. This needs to be broadcast in the most positive light at all times and many times throughout the course of the project.
The Process for successful passage
Step 1.
President Trump is to assemble a “President’s committee on health and tax reform” consisting of members of the Senate, the House, an economic expert recommended from each party, White House staff, a scribe and a professional facilitator. This is imperative in order to have an impartial, non-elected expert managing the meetings with industry leaders and to have the plan move forward expeditiously which a professional facilitator can do. He must be screened for impartiality.
The White House Chief of Staff or other designee may be assigned the task of Chairperson to manage meetings of just the President’s committee. A Co-Chair may be elected if deemed necessary and a Secretary proficient at taking meeting notes at all times and they should be streamed on the internet so all can watch.
Step 2.
Once the President’s committee is assembled, invite representatives from each industry that influences the cost of medical care (services and products) to meet individually with the President’s committee. These meetings are to be with each industry separately. The goal of these meetings is for the industries to advise the committee what would need to be done to reduce the costs of their products and/or services and what they would agree to do.
Also, inform the industry that their next step is to select a fixed number of persons from within their industry to represent the entire industry and participate in a plan with the other industries to come to an agreement amongst them on what each will do to reduce costs across the board.
Some industries to be included: Hospitals, Hospices, Private Practice Physicians and Dentists, Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance, Pharmaceuticals, Unions, Manufacturers, Tort Attorneys and any others not listed here. Give attorneys the opportunity to be heard to minimize massive objections because of misinformation due to not being included in the above process.
Once the information is assembled for each industry:
Step 3.
The representatives selected from the various industries meet together with the President’s committee to hammer out an agreement on what each will agree to do to lower their costs and provide a bottom line reduction percentage that they and government can rely on to proceed with a health care plan. One issue that needs to be part of the plan is for all businesses to also agree, under the lower costs, to provide a reasonable employee health care premium contribution as part of the employee salary package. Employee co-pays to be part of the package consideration.
Step 4.
While the committee on Health Care is working out the details of their plan, Congress works on Tax Reform. The goal is to free business from the high taxes and unduly compliance burden and costs with massive simplification and put the U.S. on a competitive playing field with our international competitors.
This can most quickly be done by S.18 & HR-25, The FairTax® Act of 2017. No other proposed plan has over $20M in independent economic and marketing research. The national sales tax is the best alternative for an income/payroll tax replacement. The FAIRtax:
- Eliminates individual and most corporate tax filings and the IRS;
- Is the least costly to administer eliminating more than $400 billion in compliance costs;
- Is the least intrusive on the taxpayer’s privacy;
- Is much more difficult to evade and will capture most of the estimated $9 trillion of evasion over the next ten years;
- Is revenue neutral in the beginning and revenue positive as the economy grows;
- Does eliminate the subsidies of foreign goods and the export of American Jobs overseas;
- Shows everyone the true cost of government on every purchase receipt;
For the tax reform process, the name of the tax plan may be changed from FAIRtax to show a refreshed offering. The FAIRTax is ready to go. Unlike the current income/payroll tax which taxes purchases pre-consumption, the FAIRtax taxes at the point of retail purchase. For example, most people have to earn $1.30 or more to net a dollar, after taxes. With the FAIRtax, you get your full paycheck and then make purchases and pay the FAIRtax. You may pay the same amount but it is no difference to what is now happening. The income/payroll tax system just hides the true cost from us.
It is the only plan than can tax the underground economy because we don’t care how one gets their money. When it is spent on NEW retail products and retail services, it will be taxed. It stops cold corporate inversions and brings foreign businesses and investment money into the U.S. Our concern should be what if another country implements a FairTax plan before we do? They will then have the financial vacuum to draw business and investment money that we passed up.
With the FAIRtax in place, business will grow more rapidly than under a modified income tax since it eliminates all income taxes and history has shown whatever is done today with an income tax will not be stable. In short order pages will be added for loop holes, carve outs and tax rates and brackets will be changed. Look at what has happened to the income tax reform of 1986. It will just happen faster now due to the computing tools available. The lack of income tax stability will not comfort investors knowing they are just waiting for the other shoe to fall with a modified income tax be it flat or multi-bracketed.
The rapid growth in business and good paying jobs will reduce Medicaid enrollment quickly. The removal of business and corporate taxes and compliance costs will help the medical industries lower their costs making the job of the health care committee easier thus tax reform needs to be done quickly as taxes are one of the health care cost influencers. There is plenty of data and help available to the President’s committee from the FAIRtax research and experts.
This can be a real win-win issue for America and the Congress as the people will reap the benefits of real tax reform and a health care system that is relatively simple and sustainable and Congress’ approval rating won’t suffer. This is a true “America First” program.
Larry Walters
Became a resident of Longwood, Florida with his wife Joanie and 3 children in 1974.
He has been doing tax returns for over 55 years and many times wished the income tax would go away.
Now he sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
In 1977 he started a home based business and joined the millions who submit an IRS form Schedule C-“Profit or Loss from Business” along with his personal income tax returns.
Larry noticed that each time congress made changes to "simplify" the tax system; he spent more time to comply with the simplicity and paid more while being able to deduct less. It fertilized the thought of abolishing our Income Tax System.
In 1992 Larry added the requirement of an IRS form Schedule E when he inherited a home from his father and turned it into a rental.
When he sold that home he faced the prospect if a large Capital Gains Tax and once again thoughts of abolishing the income tax and the 16th amendment raised its head
Originally a proponent of the Flat Tax, when exposed to the FAIRtax idea in 2004 his interest grew rapidly as he learned more about the concept and its simplicity.
Larry speaks as a representative of Americans for Fair Taxation and Florida FairTax Educational Association, non-profit, non-partisan organizations who are actively promoting replacement of the entire income tax system with a National Consumption Tax.
He serves as a District Director for the Greater Orlando Area Speaking about the FAIRtax and helping establish new FAIRtax supporters..