Page 6
It?e ijlortlanò (ribscrücr
September 10, 2014
New Prices
Effective
May 1,2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service C H G
$45.00
A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
C A R P E T C L E A N IN G
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 sm all H allw ay)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
S tairs (1 2 -1 6 sta irs - With
O th e r S ervices): $25.00
Prescription for Runaway Chief Executive Pay
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool):
$40.00Minimum
Obama reforms
pay for healthcare
not yachts
H eavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(RequiringExtensivePre-Spraying)
U PH O LSTERY
C L E A N IN G
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
O ther Services): $5.00
A D D IT IO N A L
S E R V IC E S
• Area & Oriental Rug
Cleaning
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
SEE CURRENT FLYER
FOR ADDITIONAL
PRICES & SERVICES
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
by M arjorie E. W ood
You’ve surely heard
many things about the
Affordable Care Act,
including the website
headaches that em
barrassed the Obama
administration during the new program’s
rollout
But you probably didn’t realize that
when you pay your premium today, you
can rest assured that it’s paying for health
care and not a CEO’s new yacht. You can
thank the way AC A treats CEOs — and
other executives — in the health care
industry for that.
W hen lawmakers debated this land
mark legislation, some members o f Con
gress worried that it might produce a bo
nanza for health insurers by delivering mil
lions of new customers to them practically
overnight. Who would hold those compa
nies accountable as all this new cash rolled
into their coffers?
A major concern was that health insur
ance executives might fatten their own
paychecks instead o f investing in health
care. One way these com panies benefit
from high executive pay is to deduct the
cost of so-called ‘ ‘performance pay’ ’ from
their federal income taxes. Corporations
use that loophole to avoid billions o f dol
lars in taxes every year.
W hy not close this perform ance pay
loophole as arequirement forhealth insur
ance companies under the Affordable Care
Act?
That’s exactly what Congress did.
A new Institute for Policy Studies report
I co-authored takes the first look at the
impact of closing this loophole for health
insurers. W e found that for the 10 largest
health insurance companies, the share of
executive pay that could be deducted as a
business expense fell dramatically from
nearly 100 percent to only 27 percent after
the Obama administration rolled out the
ACA.
For 2013, that translated into $72 m il
lion in additional tax dollars.
In the future, this amount will likely be
much higher. Why? Because most health
insurer executive stock options exercised
last year pre-dated the ACA and were
thereforeexempt from the newrules. From
now on, such exemptions w on’t be an
issue.
O f course, once corporate boards real
ize how much excessive pay is adding to
their corporate tax burden, they may de
cide to stop doling out extravagant com
pensation packages altogether— freeing
up money to be invested in care. But even
if high pay continues, at least health insur
ers will have to pay taxes on it— like the
$72 million they had to pay for 2013.
And what could that $72 million pay
for?
Dental care for 262,000 people for an
entire year. Or the annual deductible for
28,000 Americans for an entire year.
In addition to closing the pay loophole,
the Affordable Care A ct also requires
health insurers to spend at least 80percent
o f customer premiums on health care.
M ore than 10 million Americans have
already gained coverage because o f the
new law. That it’s also holding the profit-
making side o f the health care industry
accountable is a great bonus for all o f us.
OtherW ords colum nist M arjorie E.
Wood is a senior economic policy asso
ciate at the Institute fo r Policy Studies
a n d th e m a n a g in g e d ito r o f
Inequality.org.
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