Did you know employers pay at least half of insurance premiums under group policies? Employer health care payments are “untaxed” and don’t appear on pay stubs. You may lose those employer payments, and their “untaxed” status, because of the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare requires tax deductions, if employers make premium payments to you instead of to insurance companies. When employers must drop group insurance, because of Obamacare regulations and pricing, then employer payments become taxable. Look at pay stubs and taxes taken by government. Similar taxes will now be taken from “unseen,” “untaxed” employer payments, intended for health care.

This large tax increase on the middle class is hidden unless you understand it. Under Obamacare, taxes do apply on employer health care payments to you. After taxes, you will receive significantly less money from employers for insurance. Any premium assistance or tax credit on MNsure or federal exchanges is vastly overstated, when you consider your new tax deductions and hidden losses in employer payments.

Shannon Savick, Mark Dayton, Tim Walz, and Al Franken failed to help businesses keep existing group policies. Their failures are causing companies and workers to lose “unseen,” “untaxed” employer insurance payments when policies expire. Most policies expire after the election. Remember promises not to raise taxes on middle class? If you lose “untaxed” employer payments, then their promises were false. By forcing people into Obamacare policies, they collect hidden taxes. Individuals will now pay for insurance from income that is fully taxed — instead of with “untaxed dollars” under employer plans. You also “receive” new responsibilities for payments and filing for Obamacare. Previously, Employers handled this.

Many individuals will pay for Obamacare “benefits” they can never use. That is essentially another hidden tax. Remember Democrats promised not to raise taxes at your income level. Their promise only applies to taxes you can “see.” They assume you won’t “see” new tax deductions, and will blame employers for small insurance reimbursements.

Tax credits help some people but are limited. Representatives supporting Obamacare, over-promised, granted too much to targeted groups and discriminated against many others. Numerous people having same jobs and income are denied eligibility for Obamacare tax credits provided to other similarly situated individuals and small businesses. Community rating causes excessively high, discriminatory premiums in many areas, including southeastern Minnesota. Regulators diligently controlled health care markets in Minneapolis-St. Paul and some rural areas but failed to properly regulate our area. We are paying significantly higher premiums because of their failures.

Obamacare’s new tax deductions often take 50-60 percent of employer payments. For middle class incomes: 15-25 percent federal, 5-7 percent Minnesota; 7.65 percent Social Security and Medicare; employer matches 7.65 percent, plus 1-6 percent unemployment, 1-12 percent workman’s compensation

The total often equals loss of 50-60 percent of employer payments. This proves MNsure’s premium assistance or tax credits are vastly overstated. For many people, MNsure or federal exchange may only “return” your hidden losses, if you are “considered” eligible and use MNsure. If not receiving credits, thanks for paying huge bureaucratic cost of Obamacare that “pretends” to provide way more help than it actually does.

Richard Becker

Albert Lea