February 22, 2010 10:58AM 

# Instant Analysis of Implicit Tax Rates in New Obama Proposal 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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The Cato Institute had already scheduled a policy forum for noon today where the Urban Institute’s Gene Steuerle and I will discuss the [implicit tax rates in the House and Senate health care bills](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11108).

We’ve already been able to calculate the implicit tax rates that President Obama’s new proposal would impose on low- and middle-income workers. We have also been able to calculate the incentives to drop coverage under the president’s proposal. Upshot:

- The president’s proposal would result in *higher* implicit tax rates on low-wage workers than the House and Senate bills.
- The president’s proposal would result in *greater* incentives for higher-income workers to drop coverage than under the House and Senate bills. That would cause insurance markets to unravel even faster.

Zip over to Cato **right now** to hear me present the results – or watch the forum streaming [here](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7000).

##### Related Tags 

[Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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