The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that Obamacare will raise taxes by $813 billion over 10 years. Over 12 of these new taxes will be on families making less than $250,000 a year. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, about 73 million taxpayers earning less than $200,000 will see their taxes rise as a result of various Obamacare provisions. The CBO originally estimated that Obamacare would cost $940 billion over ten years. That cost has now been increased to $1.683 trillion. Below is a list of some of the new taxes needed to pay for it.

Medicare investment tax: A 3.8% tax on investment incomes for single taxpayers over $200,000 or couples over $250,000. This is not adjusted for inflation so more and more taxpayers will be liable similar to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). These funds are officially designated for Medicare but can be spent elsewhere.

Health Insurance Tax: An annual fee on insurers that will be likely be passed onto small businesses through higher health care premiums. The annual “fee” doesn’t expire and begins at $8 billion in 2014 and steadily increases to more than $14.3 billion. A National Federation of Independent Business study found that as a result of this tax, family premiums are expected to go up at least $5,000 per year by 2020. This tax will also reduce private-sector employment by 125,000 to 249,000 jobs in 2021.

Tanning Tax: A 10 percent tax on tanning services that will impact an estimated 18,000 small businesses nationwide. According to the non-partisan National Taxpayers Union the tax, combined with the recession, has caused 3,100 businesses to close and 35,000 lost American jobs. The tanning tax is undeniably hurting small businesses, but it has been particularly hard on female business owners. While women account for approximately 26% of all business owners, women own an estimated 75% of tanning businesses.

Cadillac Tax: A 40 percent tax on health coverage that costs more than what the government deems “appropriate.” While these plans have higher costs, they also have lower deductibles and higher benefits. This tax will hurt small businesses which typically pay upward of 18 percent more than others for health insurance. The tax is indexed for general inflation (not health care costs) so, as health care costs continue to rise, more and more people will be forced to pay this tax each year.

Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement prescription drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D: The Congressional Budget Office has projected that this tax will cause an estimated 90 percent of seniors to lose their retiree drug coverage by 2016.  

Medicare Payroll Tax: The Medicare payroll taxes will increase to 2.35 percent and, for the first time, allows funds designated for Medicare to be spent elsewhere. 

Brand-name drug tax: Manufacturers and importers of brand-name drugs will pay a tax of $3.0 billion per year for 2012 through 2016, $3.5 billion for 2017, $4.2 billion for 2018, and $2.8 billion for 2019 and thereafter.

Medical device tax: Manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices will face a 2.3% excise tax.  One study estimated the tax could result in job losses in excess of 43,000 and employment compensation losses in excess of $3.5 billion.  It will also disproportionately affect small and mid-sized businesses. Currently, 81% of American medical device manufacturers are small businesses (1-50 employees), and over 91% of medical device manufacturers are small or mid-sized businesses (under 1,000 employees). In April 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Chief Actuary explained how various taxes and fees, including the medical device excise tax, would be passed onto patients in the form of higher prices with an associated increase in overall national health expenditures ranging from $2.1 billion in 2011 to $18.2 billion in 2018 and $17.8 billion in 2019.

Fewer deductible medical expenses: New limits are placed on the deductibility of medical expenses on individual income tax returns. This provision raises the 7.5% adjusted gross income floor on medical expenses deductions to 10%. The adjusted gross income floor for those 65 and older (and their spouses) remains at 7.5% through 2016.

Flexible Spending Account limits: Flexible Spending Accounts will be limited to a maximum of $2,500 (inflation-adjusted after 2013). This provision hurts families with special needs children who frequently used these accounts to pay for their children’s care. 

Health Savings Accounts & Flexible Spending Account limits: Consumers are prohibited from using Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Account funds to purchase non-prescribed items, including over-the-counter medication (except insulin).

Individual mandate: Starting in 2014, based on their income levels, all U.S. citizens and legal residents must have “qualifying” health coverage or pay penalties. For an individual, the penalty begins in 2014 at either $95 or 1.0% of household income, whichever is larger. In 2015, it grows to $325 or 2.0%. In 2016, it reaches $695 or 2.5%. (For families, the figure will be $2,085.) After 2016, the amount will rise by a cost-of-living adjustment. This will hit the middle class the hardest because low income individuals are exempt from the mandate, as are upper middle class families (based on calculation of income and plan costs).  So that leaves families with incomes approximately $25,000 – $100,000 and over $150,000 which will be required to comply with the mandate. 

Employer mandate: This will require some firms to provide insurance, pay penalties or both. The penalties are based on (1) the number of fulltime (or part-timers counted as full-time equivalent) employees, (2) whether or not the firm offers coverage, and (3) whether or not one or more employees qualify for government subsidies toward the purchase of health insurance. An employee qualifies for a subsidy if his or her household income is below 400% of the federal poverty line ($88,000 for a family of four today).

Here are some of the rules that make an employer qualify:

Government Bureaucracy

Medicare Cuts

Obamacare cuts over $764 billion from Medicare. This figure comes directly from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Below are some examples of where those cuts come from.

In fact, for every $500 in increased payments for preventive services and prescription drugs, the rest of Medicare is cut by over $7,000. These cuts are achieved through reduced payments to Medicare providers and Medicare Advantage plans. As a result of Obamacare, Medicare reimbursement rates will now be even lower than Medicaid, which the Chief Medicare Actuary predicts that “Congress would have to intervene to prevent the withdrawal of providers from the Medicare market and the severe problems with beneficiary access to care that would result.” The 2012 Medicare trustees report concludes that these lower Medicare payment rates will cause an estimated 15 percent of hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies to operate at a loss by 2019, 25 percent to operate at a loss in 2030, and 40 percent by 2050. Operating at a loss means these facilities are likely to cut back their services to Medicare patients or close their doors, making it more difficult for seniors to access these services. According to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actuary, 7.4 million Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will lose their plan access by 2017.


Additional Impact on Seniors

Obamacare also eliminated a tax deduction for employer-provided retirement prescription drug coverage which will cause an estimated 90 percent of seniors to lose their retiree drug coverage by 2016. The Medicare Trustees estimate that as a result of this Obamacare provision, 7.6 million seniors will not have access to their retiree prescription drug plan by 2016.