[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H961-H962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HEALTH CARE TAX DEDUCTION ACT OF 2001

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mica). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I just dropped a bill this morning, and I 
intend to talk about it. It is called the Health Care Tax Deduction 
Act. What it does is allow deductions for amounts

[[Page H962]]

paid for health insurance premiums and unreimbursed prescription drugs. 
What I am proposing would also provide much-needed relief to 
individuals struggling with the high cost of health insurance and 
prescription drugs through a tax deduction.
  As we all know, employers can write off the cost of health care 
coverage that is purchased for their employees. Why cannot individuals 
be afforded this same opportunity to write off their premiums and their 
unreimbursed prescription drug expenses? The current tax code sets a 
threshold at 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income before medical 
expenses can be taken as a write-off. I do not think this is fair.
  Right now, under the current tax code, in order to claim health care 
expenses the individuals must file an itemized tax return. I believe 
that all taxpayers should be allowed to deduct these out-of-pocket 
expenses and costs and that we need to include a place where this 
deduction could be taken on the short form such as the 1040 EZ, and the 
1040A. My bill also applies to the self-employed because individuals 
who are self-employed will not be eligible for a 100 percent write-off 
until the year 2003.
  Employer-sponsored health insurance is declining. In 1987, 69.2 
percent of the population under 65 had health insurance through their 
place of employment or a family member's place of employment. That 
number declined to 64.9 percent in 1998. Just who are we talking about? 
Well, four out of five uninsured Americans in 1998 lived in a family 
with a full-time worker. Only 72 percent of employees are eligible for 
coverage from their employer, and about 40 percent of small businesses, 
50 workers or less, do not offer any kind of health insurance. This is 
according to the National Coalition on Health Care.
  So who is affected? Low and middle-income families; young adults 18 
to 24 make up 30 percent of the uninsured; the near-elderly ages 55 to 
64; minority and immigrant populations; people who work in small 
businesses; others include people with day-labor jobs, temporary or 
part-time jobs.
  I believe we must address this issue because so many Americans are 
uninsured today, and many millions more are underinsured.
  So you might ask why is this so important. Because we all end up 
paying for the uninsured through higher premiums, deductibles and 
copayments for covered services, higher taxes for uncompensated care, 
and reduced wages.
  Did you know that Americans spends more than $1 trillion on health 
care? That represents about 13.5 percent of the gross domestic product. 
By 2008, spending will increase to 16.5 percent of the gross domestic 
product. In fact, Mr. Speaker, Americans spend more per capita for 
health care than any other nation in the world.
  But why are so many people uninsured? Most studies cite cost as a 
major reason for not having insurance. Many workers decline coverage 
through their place of employment because they cannot afford to pay 
their share of the premium. Others, such as temporary workers, cannot 
afford to purchase their own insurance.
  We all know that the cost of health care has risen dramatically over 
the last 20 years. The average premium costs about $4,500 for an 
individual and about $6,500 for a family. Of that amount, employees pay 
10 to 30 percent of that premium. Unfortunately, things will probably 
get worse because many employers cover the cost of the high premiums to 
keep workers in a tight labor market. However, if the economy continues 
to slow down and unemployment begins to rise, then employers might pass 
the cost along to the employees or in fact discontinue providing health 
insurance altogether.
  Seniors, in particular, have been impacted because so many HMOs have 
pulled out of Medicare due in large part to the high cost of 
prescription drugs. Allowing a simple write-off of certain costly 
health care expenses such as health insurance premiums and out-of-
pocket expenses for prescription drugs would be a tremendous benefit 
that may not be available to them under the current system.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be sending out a letter; and I hope all of my 
colleagues cosponsor my bill. It makes sense to have all taxpayers have 
this type of deduction available to them.

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