Taxpayers would
see a $41 billion tax increase in 2001 dollars if Congress passes
the proposed Medicare prescription drug legislation and raises
taxes to pay for this massive new program, as detailed in the
budget resolution. This tax increase assumes that Congress would
raise federal income taxes by enough to pay for the new drug
entitlement. (.)
According to
Heritage's Center for Data Analysis the median amount of new taxes
will be:
- $319 for joint
files
- $93 for head of
household
- $128 for single
filers
- $186 for all
filers
The most populous
states will experience the largest tax increases:
| State |
Tax Increase (in millions) |
| California |
$5,340 |
| New York |
$3,150 |
| Texas |
$2,950 |
| Florida |
$2,070 |
| Pennsylvania |
$1,860 |
| Illinois |
$1,820 |
| New Jersey |
$1,730 |
| Ohio |
$1,520 |
See the full table of .
Another chart, from the recent Backgrounder, New
Medicare Drug Entitlement's Huge New Tax on Working Americans,
by Brian Riedl and Bill Beach, shows that the proposed drug benefit
will cost the average household $1,125 each year in new taxes by
2030.
Adding this into
Medicare's current projected shortfall, the total becomes:
- $1,168 per
household in 2010,
- $2,262 per
household in 2020, and
- $3,980 per
household in 2030.