Taxes..what do you think of this idea?

Question

I was doing some thinking and I have come to the conclusion about a certian tax our goverment ought to do in every state.
The United States talks about our health care problem and you know it really is a problem, so I propose that our Goverment take 2.00 a week out of everyone in the United states pay checks thats only 8.00 a month from everyone but then we all in the United States who are from here get free Medical and no more worries then with most that money, they pay Doctors/Hosp/Medications/ etc, I think it would work, whos for this? I mean since our country send other countries tons of money for help etc, I think we all can help each other, I think most people in the US would go for this if it were proposed and yes i do work and yes I would not mind this happening.

Answer 1

Good for you for trying to think up an answer!

A couple of things ... first, the total cost of health care to the US economy is around $1 trillion. There are about 150 million employed people, so the total cost per employed person is around $6,000/year, or about $120/week.

Someone who is making $10 an hour isn't going to able to afford to pay $120 a week for health care, so most people would say there has to be some graduated scale based on people's ability to pay. Maybe everyone should pay a percentage of their income. Maybe there should be a flat rate for everyone, as you propose, and in addition people who make more than a certain amount should pay more. Some people say that there should be a maximum above which people wouldn't pay. For example, if you make $1,000,000 a year, some would say it isn't fair for that person to pay $100,000 for health care even if everyone else is paying 10% of their income, because they aren't any more likely to get sick just because they're rich.

It's going to take some new ideas to solve the problem, good for you for stepping up with an idea!

Answer 2

What makes you think that $8 per worker per month would pay for medical care for everyone? It won't.