Policy Forum 

# Would the Senate Health Care Bill Keep the Poor Poor? 

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Date and Time 

February 22, 2010 1 - 3 PM EST 

Location 

Auditorium/Wintergarden 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Michael F. Cannon**, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute; and **C. Eugene Steuerle**, Institute Fellow and Richard B. Fisher Chair, Urban Institute. 

Congressional leaders are weighing their options for moving the Senate-passed health care overhaul through the House. That legislation would have the undesirable effect of discouraging low-wage workers from climbing the economic ladder. A new Cato Institute [study](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11108) by Michael F. Cannon finds that implicit tax rates would often exceed 100 percent for low-wage workers, which could trap millions of Americans in low-wage jobs. Cannon also finds that the Senate bill creates incentives as large as $8,000 per year for people to purchase health insurance only when they are sick.

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