Sign the Petition to Stop New Healthcare Taxes

By Reagan Knopp
In: Health & Human Services, OR 79th Legislative Session, Taxes, Uncategorized
Monday July 10, 2017

>> Sign the petition <<

State Representatives Julie Parrish, Sal Esquivel, and Cedric Hayden have filed a petition to refer HB 2391, raising $550 million in taxes on healthcare, to the ballot. Democrats in the legislature voted to attempt to rig this election by moving the election to January of 2018 instead of the regularly scheduled November 2018 election when it should be on the ballot. Please read the information below and sign the petition if you oppose the tax.

On July 3rd, Governor Kate Brown signed into law House Bill 2391.  In spite of $1.5 BILLION dollars in new general fund revenue, the bill raises $550 million in new taxes from your healthcare premiums and hospital costs.

Who will pay the tax?

  • 217,000 Oregonians in the individual market who pay the full cost of their own health insurance or buy from the Exchange.
  • 11,681 college students who buy their own healthcare as a requirement of attendance in Oregon’s universities.
  • 15,500 small group (under 50) employers.  These could be a small mom & pop business, or even your local non-profit or church who covers healthcare for their employees.
  • Oregon school districts in the large group market.  House Bill 2391 is expected to suck $25 million dollars from our local schools.
  • Oregon community colleges who buy in the same large group market will also be hit with the tax, causing tuition increases for college students.
  • PEBB public employee plans will be taxed, causing $10 million to be pulled from our General Fund.  Oregon’s seven universities on PEBB will cost shift this burden to students in the form of higher tuition.
  • Medicaid providers themselves will be taxed under this new plan, potentially reducing payments to doctors and nurses who already work at cost to help Oregon’s neediest citizens.
  • Hospitals in our communities will have a hard tax imposed on their net revenues.  This means if your child breaks her arm, or you need a critical care surgery, you’ll be forced to pay a higher share with your insurance as hospitals increase the costs of services to pay for this new tax.

Who won’t pay the tax?

  • Large corporations, unions, and the insurance companies themselves.
  • In fact, one section of the bill expressly allows insurance companies to pass the new taxes directly to you, the purchaser.  It’s a Sales Tax on healthcare, and we think voters deserve the right to vote.

>> Sign the petition <<

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