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AACI has learned that the new Health Care Reform Bill as proposed by the US Senate contains a $750 per year Excise Tax per person for all US Citizens living outside the US.
The proposed law requires all US citizens regardless of country of residence to buy into one of the proposed US insurance plans or pay $750 per person per year Health Insurance Excise Tax.
The proposed US insurance plans will not cover medical expenses outside the US.
This will force us to pay for health insurance we cannot use. A similar Health Care Bill has already been passed by the US House of Representatives. However, in that bill, all US citizens residing abroad are exempt from the Excise Tax. Unless we are exempted by both the House bill and the Senate bill, we could be taxed when the two bills are merged.
The Senate is currently debating its bill and is close to bringing to that bill to a vote. We need to urge our Senators to exempt us from the Excise Tax in their bill.
AND we need to act NOW!
Click here for a sample letter which you can personalize.
To register your opposition, you must FAX your objections whether using the attached letter or one of your own making. Emailing does not have the same impact. When you FAX a letter, the letter is immediately seen and counted. Be sure to sign it and give your Israeli Address. This validates the FAX. To help you, AACI is providing you with a link to the names and fax numbers of every US Senator.
AACI urges every US citizen to contact their two US Senators and voice their opposition to this Excise Tax for US citizens residing abroad.
We can make our voices heard!
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United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(Date) RE: America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009
Dear Senator …,
As one of your constituents who resides outside of the United States, I was shocked to learn that the U.S. Senate’s “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009” bill, as currently worded, will cause great hardship to American citizens living outside the United States. I bring this to your attention, so that it can be corrected.
U.S. Citizens who are bona fide residents in foreign countries are in most instances obliged to pay for health insurance plans in their country of residence and will not benefit from the new U.S. health system. As such, the proposed excise tax is an unfair burden on us.
I urge you to recommend that the Senate bill be brought into agreement with the House bill "America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" (H.R. 3200) which specifically exempts overseas Americans from the excise tax on not subscribing to a U.S. domestic health plan under Section 401 of the Act.
I thank you most sincerely for your attention to this important issue and trust that you will do all that is necessary to bring about the change in the text of the proposed legislation.
Sincerely yours,
(Your Name)
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Alabama
Jeff Sessions – 202-224-3149
Richard Shelby – 202-224-3416
Alaska
Mark Begich – 202-224-2354
Lisa Murkowski – 202-224-5301
Arizona
Jon Kyl – 202-224-2207
John McCain – 202-228-2862
Arkansas
Blanche Lincoln – 202-228-1371
Mark Pryor – 202-228-0908
California
Barbara Boxer - 202-224-0454
Dianne Feinstein – 202-228-3954
Colorado
Michael Bennet – 202-228-5036
Mark Udall – 202-224-6471
Connecticut
Christopher Dodd – 202-224-1083
Joseph Lieberman – 202-224-9750
Delaware
Thomas Carper – 202-228-2190
Edward Kaufman – 202-228-3075
Florida
George LeMieux – 202-228-5171
Bill Nelson – 202-228-2183
Georgia
Saxby Chambliss – 202-224-0103
Johnny Isakson – 202-228-0724
Hawaii
Daniel Akaka – 202-224-2126
Daniel Inouye – 202-224-6747
Idaho
Mike Crapo – 202-228-1375
James Risch – 202-224-2573
Illinois
Roland Burris – 202-228-3333
Richard Durbin – 202-228-0400
Indiana
Evan Bayh – 202-228-1377
Richard Luger – 202-228-0360
Iowa
Chuck Grassley – 202-224-6020
Tom Harkin – 202-224-9369
Kansas
Sam Brownback – 202-228-1265
Pat Roberts – 202-224-3514
Kentucky
Jim Bunning – 202-228-1373
Mitch McConnell – 202-224-2499
Louisiana
Mary Landrieu – 202-224-9735
David Vitter – 202-228-5061
Maine
Susan Collins – 202-224-2693
Olympia Snowe – 202-224-1946
Maryland
Benjamin Cardin – 202-224-1651
Barbara Mikulski – 202-224-8858
Massachusetts
John Kerry – 202-224-8525
Paul G. Kirk Jr.- 202-224-2417
Michigan
Carl Levin – 202-224-1388
Debbie Stabenow – 202-228-0325
Minnesota
Al Franken – 202-224-0044
Amy Klobuchar – 202-228-2186
Mississippi
Thad Cochran – 202-224-9450
Roger Wicker – 202-228-0378
Missouri
Christopher Bond – 202-224-8149
Claire McCaskill – 202-228-6326
Montana
Max Baucus – 202-228-1493
Jon Tester – 202-224-8594
Nebraska
Mike Johanns – 202-228-0436
Ben Nelson – 202-228-0012
Nevada
John Ensign – 202-228-2193
Harry Reid – 202-224-7327
New Hampshire
Judd Gregg – 202-224-4952
Jeanne Shaheen – 202-228-3194
New Jersey
Frank Lautenberg – 202-228-4054
Robert Menendez – 202-228-2197
New York
Kirsten Gillibrand – 202-228-0282
Charles Schumer - 202-228-3027
New Mexico
Jeff Bingaman – 202-224-2852
Tom Udall – 202-228-3261
North Carolina
Richard Burr –202-228-2981
Kay Hagan – 202-228-2563
North Dakota
Kent Conrad – 202-224-7776
Byron Dorgan – 202-224-1193
Ohio
Sherrod Brown – 202-228-6321
George Voinovich – 202-228-1382
Oklahoma
Tom Coburn – 202-224-6008
James Inhofe – 202-228-0380
Oregon
Jeff Merkley – 202-228-3997
Ron Wyden – 202-228-2717
Pennsylvania
Robert Casey – 202-228-0604
Arlen Specter – 202-228-1229
Rhode Island
Jack Reed – 202-224-4680
Sheldon Whitehouse – 202-228-6362
South Carolina
Jim DeMint – 202-228-5143
Lindsey Graham – 202-224-3808
South Dakota
Tim Johnson – 202-228-5765
John Thune – 202-228-5429
Tennessee
Lamar Alexander – 202-228-3398
Bob Corker – 202-228-0566
Texas
John Cornyn – 202-228-2856
Kay Bailey Hutchinson – 202-224-0776
Utah
Robert Bennett – 202-228-1168
Orrin Hatch – 202-224-6331
Vermont
Patrick Leahy – 202-224-3479
Bernard Sanders – 202-228-0776
Virginia
Mark Warner – 202-224-6295
Jim Webb – 202-228-6363
Washington
Maria Cantwell – 202-228-0514
Patty Murray – 202-224-0238
West Virginia
Robert Byrd – 202-228-0002
John Rockefeller – 202-224-7665
Wisconsin
Russell Feingold – 202-224-2725
Herb Kohl – 202-224-9787
Wyoming
John Barrasso – 202-224-1724
Michael Enzi – 202-228-0359
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Regarding health insurance questions:
The specifics of the insurance that will be available, when it will be available and at what cost have not yet been determined by either the House or Senate Healthcare Bills. They will be determined if or when a compromise bill is approved by both the House and Senate and signed by the President.
However, both bills do include an excise tax for non-participants. The House bill exempts us from this tax, the Senate bill does not. That is why we are bringing this issue to your attention and asking you to voice your concern to your Senators. 1. I participate in Medicare – will I still have to pay the excise tax?
As of this writing, Medicare is not specifically named as one of the approved health care plans. Therefore we suggest you fax your objections to the excise tax.
2. If a citizen living abroad pays the $750 will they be covered when in the U.S. on visits?
Payment of the excise tax will not cover you in the US; you will get no insurance benefit for paying this tax. The excise tax will be a penalty you pay for not participating in one of the authorized health plans. You will still need to purchase travel insurance.
3. Is that amount the same for everyone regardless of income? If someone is a student, retiree, child, otherwise unemployed still required to pay it?
The excise tax mentioned in the Senate bill will be the same for everyone.
4. In the version without the excise tax can citizens living abroad opt to pay it and get the insurance while in the U.S.?
Paying the excise tax will NOT give you healthcare coverage. In the House version and the Senate version, US citizens living abroad CAN choose to buy into one of the approved insurance plans. Once the various plans are approved, you can determine if any of them are appropriate to your needs. From previous experience, you cannot rely on these plans for coverage outside the U.S.
5. Is there a site where I can get a copy of the proposed bill written in layman terms?
Unfortunately, as of yet, there is no such creature. This is because the bill is still being debated with amendments added and sections changed. We at AACI have become aware the issue of the excise tax and are bringing it to everyone’s attention.
6. I have lived in several states prior to making Aliyah. To which Senators do send my faxes?
Under federal election law, the Senators from the state in which you last resided prior to making Aliyah are the ones to receive your faxes.
7. Wouldn't this excise tax be covered under the tax treaty between the US and Israel; since we pay an Israeli health tax, wouldn't this be deducted from the US tax?
The specific issue of the US/Israeli tax treaty has not been addressed in either of House or Senate bills. This excise tax is applicable to ALL US citizens living outside the US, not just those in Israel.
8. If the bill goes through with the excise tax, how is it going to be enforced?
All excise taxes are added to the taxpayers’ final tax liability owed to the IRS.
9. If Americans living outside the US do not pay the excise tax, how would they pay for their medical care if they became ill or injured on a visit to the US?
The excise tax will not provide any medical coverage to anyone. It is merely a tax on people who choose not to participate in any of the American Approved Health Care Plans (to be determined at a later date). Americans living abroad can choose to participate in one of Approved Plans and pay for it (costs are unknown at present) or can purchase travel insurance here in Israel. It is unknown if any of the approved plans will provide services outside the U.S. Neither Medicare nor Medicaid provide such services.
Is AACI opposed to the Healthcare Reform bills?
Absolutely not! AACI is neither for or against these bills. What we are against is the excise tax on US citizens living abroad.
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