Chuck Grassley: “Today, along with Senators Roth, Dole, and Pryor, I am introducing a bill to restore and increase the health care…”

“Today, along with Senators Roth, Dole, and Pryor, I am introducing a bill to restore and increase the health care deduction for the self-employed. Most of the major health care bills introduced in the last Congress called for an increased extension of the 25-percent health insurance deduction for the self-employed. There's a broad consensus that an increased health insurance deduction would contribute to tax fairness and would also lead to a significant reduction in the number of uninsured Americans. Unfortunately, as we all know, the self-employed health insurance deduction expired on December 31, 1993, with the understanding that an extension, and possible expansion, would be part of health care reform in 1994. However, we all know what happened to President Clinton's disastrous health care reform effort. And, unfortunately, the self-employed deduction went down with it. Mr. President, if the 25-percent deduction is not retroactively reinstated, the self-employed will be hit with a sizeable tax increase. Moreover, it would be a tax increase on predominantly middle-income persons, since about 73 percent of those persons who pay self-employment tax earn under $50,000 in adjusted gross income. Mr. President, our bill will reinstate the 25-percent deduction for the 1994 tax year, and then increase the deduction to 50 percent this year, 75 percent next year, and 100 percent the year after.”