CPR:
Since the best feature of the Healthy California Act is that all health care will be free, it seems churlish to suggest that someone must pay for something.
Sadly, even after asserting more than $70 billion in new savings from efficiencies that highly motivated private providers and government regulators have not achieved, and after assuming that federal authorities will hand over about $150 billion in program funding and tax subsidies for use by state health care officials, the academics hired by program proponents find that revenues still fall short by $106 billion.
That’s in year one. Before health care inflation kicks in and utilization of free health care services metastasizes. An analysis of the measure by the author’s own staff found that, “Given all the factors that would make utilization management difficult, a 10% utilization increase is likely a conservative assumption.” That translates into tens of billions annually in higher health care costs.
So how does one resolve an annual $106 billion hole in the state’s health care budget?
- Double the personal income tax? Nope. That will only bring in $89 billion.
- Quadruple the state sales tax? Nope. That will only bring in $98 billion.
- Ok, increase the corporate tax by eight-fold. Sorry, that’s just $87 billion.
But California already is a tax machine. This can’t be that hard.
Actually, it isn’t that hard, if you’re willing to dive deeply into the dumpster of discarded ideas.
Voila! That’s where you’ll find the gross receipts tax, the revenue stream preferred by academics supported by the bill’s union sponsors.
And dollars left overnight under Governor Moonbeam’s pillow by the dust fairy don’t count.
Dad, I found this car I want to get. And all of you can ride in it.
Dad said, Great. But you have no money and no job. Who’s paying for the car, gas, and maintenance?
Silence.
Don’t look at me, he said. Why should my hard-earned money pay for your free ride?
It’s easy. Get rid of all people who are a drain on the state. All illegals are out period
Tax the rich to feed the poor.
Till there are no rich no more.
Then curl up in a ball and starve to death you lug nuts.
” gross receipts tax”
That will push what remains of California businesses out of state overnight. Maybe they should just come up with their own currency and start printing it.
Hope they find a way. That will drop my future medical bills to the price of airfare there.
Preconditions will be covered won’t they?
As with every great government scam, these figures are low balled. Double or triple them for starters. Then, for good measure, try to calculate extras costs due to sick people migrating to California from all over north and south America.
California, here I come. NOT!
Gross receipts tax means you pay taxes on money you’ve never received. No one is going to do business that way.
Been in business for this crazy state for nearly 30 years. They pass this outlandish wet dream and I leave the next day leaving 50 folks unemployed. I am not going to risk my life and wait 9 months to see a doctor behind some Pablo criminal from Guatemala or Mexico who has no job and pays NO taxes. It is NOT worth risking my life and health for a few sunny days a year…..that would be the last straw for many of us and then the State will finally collapse in to bankruptcy where it belongs.
Maybe that will draw the parasites from across the country and when they’re settled in, find some scientists to tickle the San Andreas fault into rocking the big one.
If the movie industry can get rich by dealing in fantasy maybe the State of California can also get rich by passing fantasy legislation!
In ten years it will be the dead beat state
How about this…when California has a balanced budget and has paid off ALL debts we can TALK about this crazy proposal. Not until then.
New rule- when drafting a bill that makes a service “free” test drive it first on lawyers & college professors. If you can come up with a system that provides free legal council & higher education without sacrificing the quality I’m all in favor of applying that economic miracle to the doctors.
I think they found $175 Million in Janet Napolitano’s bank account that was somehow missed in an audit. That should cover a few weeks of medical expenses if they can pry it out of her hands.