Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, April 2, 1998, page A5:

Washington

"Senator Barbara Boxer introduced legislation yesterday to provide tax cuts for working Americans who pay their own health insurance premiums.

Boxer's legislation would allow employees to deduct up to $2,000 per year for the cost of health insurance for themselves and their families. The major beneficiaries would be middle-class taxpayers who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but whose employers decline to pay for their full medical coverage.

"Far too often, working families must bear the burden of health insurance costs alone," Boxer said.

The proposals come in an election year when Boxer hopes to convince Californians that she has championed consumer health care issues. She has also co-sponsored a patient's "bill of rights" that would regulate health maintenance organizations.

Under normal circumstances, Republicans would not be expected to let the bill advance in an election year. However, House Republicans have recently proposed similar tax cuts.

House Ways and Means chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas, is currently reviewing a number of health-related tax cuts, including a proposal that, like Boxer's, would allow individuals to deduct the health insurance premiums from their taxes.

Archer had no direct comment on Boxer's legislation, but his staff seemed to welcome a Democrat's support for the concept.

"Good ideas are contagious," said Archer spokesman Ari Fleischer, in response to Boxer's legislation. "(Archer) hopes the contagion spreads to the White House."

Fleischer said Archer would introduce his own measure by the end of the spring with hopes of passing it before Congress adjourns for the year in October.

Boxer's proposal would apply only to individuals who are employed. Deductions for health benefits are already available to corporations, and to self-employed individuals. To illustrate its effect, Boxer presented a "typical" tax return for a couple earning $75,000 a year. If they purchase an insurance policy that covers their entire family, they would be able to deduct the $2,000 from their income, and lower their tax bill by $500.

Boxer estimated the bill would cost about $11 billion a year, which she said should be paid for by increased taxes on cigarettes as part of a larger settlement with tobacco companies, and by closing loopholes for international businesses."