Don Nickles: “This amendment is probably the most significant health care provision that the Senate has considered in a long time. I…”

“This amendment is probably the most significant health care provision that the Senate has considered in a long time. I have heard a lot of people say we want to make insurance more portable; we want to make insurance more affordable. If you do, then we need to support Senator Dole and Senator Roth's amendment. That would include some tax equalization. The Tax Code is really skewed. It is really inequitable. It is not fair. Let me just give you a couple of examples. The amendment that we have dealing both with the medical savings account and deductibility for self-insured help fix the problem--not totally, but they certainly improve it. The Tax Code right now discriminates against people who do not work for generous employers. If you work for a generous employer, they can pay for your health care benefits and the individual can receive that tax free benefit, does not have to pay anything for it.”