Pennsylvania - Employer Insurance Lost

875,503 Pennsylvania Residents Would Lose Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Under McCain Health Plan

Two new reports from the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Economic Policy Institute found that 875,503 Pennsylvania residents, 11.9% of people with employer-sponsored coverage, would lose their job-related health benefits under the McCain health care plan.

Why?

Because Senator McCain’s plan would tax employees on the value of their employer-provided health insurance, leading many companies to stop offering health benefits altogether. For example, if you make $45,000 a year and your employer pays $12,000 a year for your family’s health insurance coverage, you would have to pay taxes on an annual income of $57,000. (Learn more about why Senator McCain’s plan would have such a devastating effect on hard-working families across the country.)

With that one change, Senator McCain’s plan would:

• Threaten the coverage of 7,357,849 people in Pennsylvania who receive health benefits through work.
• Put at special risk coverage for the 2,500,000 people under 65 in Pennsylvania struggling with diseases like cancer and diabetes who are now covered through their jobs, and who would not be able to buy insurance in the individual market because of their pre-existing condition.
• Raise taxes on the people of Iowa who get health insurance benefits through their job. A typical Pennsylvania family could pay almost $1,200 more in taxes by 2013 if McCain imposes both income and payroll taxes on their health coverage.