Obamacare Sticker Shock: All Over-The-Counter Medications Will Have New Federal Taxes Beginning 1 January

From Human Events:

Obamacare Sticker Shock: Taxing Over 15,000 Medicines


by Connie Hair



10/14/2010







Nancy Pelosi warned us we’d have to pass Obamacare to find out what’s in it. And what we’re finding we don’t like at all.



Higher insurance premiums are hitting families hard. Medicare Advantage has been decimated. Millions will be forced into government-run Medicaid where long lines and rationing await.



If we like our insurance -- too bad.



Beginning January 1, 2011, more than 15,000 over-the-counter (OTC) health care items will require a prescription (and that means a doctor’s visit) for tax-free reimbursement.



Under Obamacare, OTC drugs cannot be reimbursed tax-free from Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) without a government bureaucrat-required permission slip.



In response to new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance (the IRS is the Obamacare enforcement agency), the Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards (SIGIS) released a new list of OTC medications that will require a prescription for a tax-free withdrawal from an HSA or an FSA under Obamacare. SIGIS is an industry group for health care debit card transactions and merchants. According to SIGIS, 15,000 OTC health care items are barred from purchase by these accounts without prescription.



Below is a partial list of the OTC item categories:



Acid Controllers

Allergy and Sinus medicine

Antibiotics

Anti-Diarrheals

Anti-Gas Products

Anti-Itch and Insect Bite

Anti-Parasitic Treatments

Baby Rash Ointments/Creams

Cold Sore Remedies

Cough, Cold, and Flu

Digestive Aids

Motion Sickness

Pain Relievers

Respiratory Treatments

Stomach Remedies



The detailed SIGIS Eligible Products List will be published on December 15, 2010.



As of May 2010, approximately 10 million people were covered under HSA plans for their family’s health care needs. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this provision of Obamacare will cost families $5 billion.







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Connie Hair writes daily as HUMAN EVENTS' Congressional correspondent. She is a former speechwriter for Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and a former media and coalitions advisor to the Senate Republican Conference. You can follow Connie on Twitter @ConnieHair.