Rep. Gohmert: Health Care Bill Will Tax The Working Poor Who Can't Afford Insurance

Speaking on the House floor last night, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) misleadingly claimed that the individual mandate under the health care reform bill will tax the working poor who are unable to afford health insurance.

GOHMERT: Talk about helping the working poor.  If you are not able to afford the level of insurance required by this bill by the federal government, then, I guess that's the 15 people that are on this board that's gonna make up all these great determinations for everybody's healthcare - that the president will appoint.  But if you can't afford that level of insurance, then we're gonna help you.  We're gonna tax you an additional 2 ½ percent on your income.  An additional income tax for the working poor that can't...as I had someone tell me two days ago, "If I can afford the insurance, I'd buy it.  I can't and now imma get hit by an extra income tax on top of that."

Gohmert's claim does not take into account the bill's very generous subsidies, which will be offered not just to the working poor but also to many middle-class Americans.  Beginning in 2014, when the mandate comes into effect, those who are unemployed, self-employed or whose employers don't offer insurance will be able to buy from an insurance exchange.  Plans under the exchange will have a package of essential benefits that will be far more comprehensive than the minimum coverage standards millions currently can afford.

The CBO estimates that about 25 million people will go into the exchange and about 19 million of these people will be eligible for some form of subsidy from the federal government.  As the Christian Science Monitor reported, "The cutoff level would be an income of four times the federal poverty level. For one person, that's about $44,000 a year. For a family of four, the comparable figure is about $88,000.  Subsidies would be figured on a sliding scale, with those who make less getting a bigger boost and those nearer the top getting a smaller one."

Some Republican lawmakers truly do not understand the specifics of legislation they are attacking.  For example, Rep. John Carter (R-TX) claimed earlier in the week that states' budgets will be wrecked as a result of additional people being put on Medicaid.  Carter didn't mention, or perhaps, does not understand that the federal government will cover almost the entire cost of Medicaid expansion.