The U.S. Senate’s health-care overhaul plan would almost double a proposed increase in Medicare payroll taxes for high-earners and impose a new tax on indoor tanning, replacing an earlier levy on plastic surgery.
The new version of the bill announced today by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid contains a 0.9 percentage-point increase in the Medicare tax for individuals who earn more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. The increase would start in 2013.
That would generate $86.8 billion over six years, up from about $50 billion that would have been generated by an earlier proposed increase of 0.5 percentage point. Those affected would pay a Medicare tax rate of 2.35 percent, while their employers would continue to pay 1.45 percent.