Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance : Pitfalls and Promises

Few people realize that one of the nationOCOs largest health programs runs through the tax system. Reformers of all stripes propose to modify current tax rules as part of larger programs to increase coverage and control costs. Is the current system working? Will tax-based reforms achieve their goals? Several of the nationOCOs foremost experts on taxation and health policy address these questions in Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance, a joint product of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute.Led by respected economists Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution and Leonard Burman of the Urban Institute, contributors examine the role taxes currently play, the likely effects of recently introduced health savings accounts, the challenges of administering major subsidies for health insurance through the tax system, and options for using the tax system to expand health insurance coverage. No taxpayer or consumer of health care services can afford to ignore these issues. A Brookings Institution Press and Urban Institute publication Few people realize that one of the nation's largest health programs runs through the tax system. Reformers of all stripes propose to modify current tax rules as part of larger programs to increase coverage and control costs. Is the current system working? Will tax-based reforms achieve their goals? Several of the nation's foremost experts on taxation and health policy address these questions in Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance, a joint product of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute. Led by respected economists Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution and Leonard Burman of the Urban Institute, contributors examine the role taxes currently play, the likely effects of recently introduced health savings accounts, the challenges of administering major subsidies for health insurance through the tax system, and options for using the tax system to expand health insurance coverage. No taxpayer or consumer of health care services can afford to ignore these issues.

Few people realize that one of the nation's largest health programs runs through the tax system. Reformers of all stripes propose to modify current tax rules as part of larger programs to increase coverage and control costs. Is the current system working? Will tax-based reforms achieve their goals? Several of the nation's foremost experts on taxation and health policy address these questions in Using Taxes to Reform Health Insurance, a joint product of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute. Led by respected economists Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution and Leonard Burman of the Urban Institute, contributors examine the role taxes currently play, the likely effects of recently introduced health savings accounts, the challenges of administering major subsidies for health insurance through the tax system, and options for using the tax system to expand health insurance coverage. No taxpayer or consumer of health care services can afford to ignore these issues.

Tax policy and the history of the health insurance industry / Robert B. Helms The tax code, employer sponsored insurance, and the distribution of tax subsidies / Leonard E. Burman, Bowen Garrett, and Surachai Khitatrakun Health savings accounts : recent trends and potential effects on coverage and health insurance markets / Lisa Clemans-Cope What's in a name? Are health savings accounts really health savings accounts? / Henry J. Aaron, Patrick Healy, and Surachai Khitatrakun Tax subsidies for out-of-pocket health care costs / Jessica Vistnes, William Jack, and Arik Levinson Administrative issues : challenges of the current system / Mary B.H. Hevener and Charles K. "Chip" Kerby III The challenges of implementing health reform through the tax system / Janet Holtzblatt Reforming the tax treatment of health care : right ways and wrong ways / Jason Furman Simple humans, complex insurance, subtle subsidies / Jeffrey Liebman and Richard Zeckhauser Taxes and health insurance / Peter Orszag.

Costs keep rising, quality is uneven, and insurance is prohibitively expensive. Small wonder, then, that Americans are greatly concerned by the state of their health care. After ignoring the issue for years, both political parties have been forced by public anxiety and tightened budgets to put health care reform back near the top of their agendas.

"Examines the role that taxes currently play, the likely effects of recently introduced health savings accounts, the challenges of administering major subsidies for health insurance through the tax system, and options for using the tax system to expand health insurance coverage"--Provided by publisher.