Imagine you just received an insurance claim for a routine doctor visit. Medicare paid their part; your supplemental insurance paid of the rest except for one thing: sales tax. Your health insurance covers medical care, not tax on those services. Yes, you will receive a bill, from your doctor’s practice for the sales tax that they must submit to the State.
Now, imagine getting a claim for an extended hospital stay. Between Medicare and your supplemental insurance, most of it is covered. You will have to come up with the co-pay for the rest of the cost, plus taxes on the services and any drugs they administered to you. Let’s not forget the radiologist, pathologist, and, if you had surgery, the anesthesiologist. Yes, you may have to pay for part of those services plus taxes as well. No insurance company is going to pay your sales or services tax for you.
You may argue; but they don’t tax services or medicine. If Amendment 5 passes they may be taxing them. The same holds true for your dentist, your optometrist, your hearing technician, your barber, your beautician, your mechanic, your plumber, your heating and air conditioning technician and anyone else you pay for services.
If Amendment 5 passes, the State Legislature can decide to tax anything that wasn’t previously taxed and raise those taxes without voter consent. Is not medical care expensive enough? Aren’t rural hospitals having a hard time just staying open? Might you have to have to consider giving up your lawn service. Might you not have to consider cutting back on groceries, feed for your livestock, and presents for nieces, nephews, and grandkids?
Affordability is already an issue. All these added taxes are going to put a strain on clients as well as providers. And all this is being pushed to offset the revenue the State will miss by doing away with State income tax.
Vote NO on Amendment 5. let’s keep the State Income Tax and forgo any other taxes the legislature may decide to levy on us.
Troy J. Kiefer
Perryville
