[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BURR:
  S. 2379. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 
deduction for health and long-term care insurance costs of individual 
not participating in employer-subsidized health plans; to the Committee 
on Finance.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
would provide an above-the-line tax deduction for individuals who 
purchase their own health insurance and are not receiving it through 
their employer. An above-the-line tax deduction would allow a taxpayer 
to take the deduction even if they don't itemize their taxes. Current 
law allows those individuals who are self-employed and purchase health 
insurance to take an above-the-line tax deduction. My legislation would 
make the tax code fairer by allowing those people who are not self-
employed to take the same deduction.
  An estimated 17.4 million Americans in 2005 were covered by 
individually purchased health insurance policies. Some of these people 
are self-employed and can currently take this deduction. However, based 
upon these statistics, I estimate that up to 2 million families who 
have purchased health insurance do not have access to this deduction. 
My legislation seeks to correct that. Additionally, the legislation 
will make it cheaper for uninsured people to purchase their own health 
insurance policies. Health care costs in general are expected to rise 
7.2 percent per year for the next ten years, so it is important for 
Congress to pursue steps to attempt to rein in this inflation and also 
to try to make health care and health insurance more accessible and 
affordable. This legislation is a part of those efforts.
  Another important aspect of the legislation is that it would also 
allow individuals to take an above-the-line deduction for the purchase 
of long-term-care insurance. Most employers do not offer any subsidized 
long-term-care insurance to their employees, so those who need this 
protection often have to purchase it in the individual market. It is 
very important for Americans to purchase this insurance, since many 
people assume that Medicare covers long-term-care costs when people 
turn age 65. However, this is not true. Often, seniors will find 
themselves on Medicaid, the low-income federal health care program, 
when they have long stays in nursing homes that they cannot pay for. 
Long-term-care insurance is a far better alternative to having seniors 
go onto Medicaid. It is important for Congress to incentivize people to 
purchase this insurance, and my legislation is a step in the right 
direction.
  I want to urge my colleagues to look at this legislation. It is short 
and to the point, but helping people to have private health insurance 
and long-term-care insurance is an important part of improving our 
health care system.
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