Universal health care not a pretty picture

By Thomas Oliver

For the AJC

Mike Sullivan is typical of our small businessmen and women. He built a business, Southeast Sealing Inc., over the last 37 years that now employs 25. He’s brought his son, Michael, into the business.

Along the way, he’s been an active member of his community, serving today as chair of the Rockdale Development Authority, while all along contributing to just about any charity that walked into his Conyers office.

At 68, he thought he’d seen it all. But this recession has him on the ropes. Sealing floors for retailers opening new Old Navy or Urban Outfitters stores was a good business until the retailers stopped opening new stores. Now, the jobs are mainly repairing the floors of warehouses and manufacturing facilities.

Southeast Sealing hasn’t had any layoffs, despite a significant reduction in business, because of Sullivan’s commitment to his employees, many of who have worked with him for years. Some are putting kids through college. Others depend on the company’s health insurance plan.

But as the crunch continues, it’s getting harder and harder.

So, when Sullivan hears about our leaders’ plan for universal healthcare and how they’ll fund it, he’s at wits’ end.

It will certainly make his healthcare costs more expensive, and they’ve been increasing an average of 18 percent a year for a decade.

Incredibly, it will also tax him to pay for the plan – another definition of insanity given the importance of small business to our economy. And any recovery.

For businesses that don’t offer insurance, the government will impose a payroll penalty tax.

For the small business owner, it’s clearly a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Even if you currently provide what the government considers adequate health coverage for your employees, you’ll be the primary target for the taxes to pay for what will easily be a trillion dollar entitlement program. And whatever cost estimate we are using now, you can bet that estimate will seem naively low in another 10 years.

The payment method is posed as a tax on the rich, a surcharge tax on folks earning $280,000 or more a year. Problem is, 60 percent of the folks in that category are small business owners.

Another source of tax revenue is the ridiculous idea of a soda tax. Next, they’ll be taxing apple pie.

And all this for what?

So the folks who brought you Medicare and Medicaid can now provide healthcare for everyone else?

(Please don’t be fooled by the teleprompter. The endgame is universal, government-administered healthcare.)

It’ll actually be worse than Medicaid.

Because the only way government can slow down the ever-increasing costs, while providing coverage for even more people, is to reduce service. It’s called rationing. It’s as inevitable under this plan as the rising sun.

Want an idea of what a government run healthcare program looks like.

Take the opportunity to visit your local VA hospital.

That’s government taking care of those it says are special people, heroes.

Thomas Oliver is a business columnist. He can be reached at
 toliver.writeright@gmail.com .