Sacramento Democrats are raising taxes on private health insurance
California Gov.Gavin Newsom has never seen a pocket he didn’t want to pick.And on his way out the door, Democrats want to cover his profligate spending habits via your health insurance.The vehicle is the Managed Care Organization tax (the MCO tax), a levy the state collects from health insurance plans.
New federal rules forced California to restructure it, and Sacramento’s solution, Senate Bill 125, lands the new burden squarely on people who buy private insurance.As the state’s legislative analyst and others have noted, California had been charging Medi-Cal plans at a higher rate than private plans.This amounted to a quasi-shakedown of the federal government.
SB 125 lowers the tax on Medi-Cal plans while raising it on private plans to the same level.The result, if Newsom signs it, will shift more of the cost burden onto people who buy private insurance, while likely bringing in less revenue overall.California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!The plan costs working families more and the state less.That is not tax reform.
That is a bailout for a governor who has spent nearly a decade growing government to a point where more Californians are leaving than coming in because the state is so unaffordable and unlivable.We keep paying five-star prices to get half-star services.State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, a Republican from San Diego, says it will cost the typical family $400 in higher premiums this year alone.As political strategist Jon Fleischman observes, “at a time when Californians rank affordability as their major concern, the state government’s answer was not to cut costs or red tape or deliver real tax relief.
Instead, the Democrats are advancing new taxes while continuing government gr...