by Edmund F. Haislmaier
The Heritage Foundation
December 10, 2009
Backgrounder
The Senate health insurance premium tax would impose new costs on Americans who already have coverage while deferring for years the even larger amounts that Congress proposes to spend subsidizing those without coverage. Through either Medicare Advantage or Medigap, seniors would pay approximately 17 percent of the new premium tax: the second largest share after workers in small business, who would pay 54 percent.
