Senator Harry Reid's Senate just released the details behind their iteration of health care reform.  As a CPA, tax adviser and financial planner, many of my business and individual clients rely on me to articulate how any new legislation will affect their financial lives. Well, let me make it as simple to understand as I possibly can. This health care legislation is bad. Bad for businesses, bad for individuals and bad for the country. The tax provisions alone amount to a staggering $892 billion in real tax increases from 2014 - 2023 and a real cost of $2.5 trillion for the same period. I believe the implications of the passage of this legislation to be so profoundly bad for the United States that it may, in fact, force our beloved country into a public entity bankruptcy in short order.  There is going to be a mind-numbing shift of jobs from the private sector to the public sector as private health insurance companies and their business partners shrink or go out of business and the federal government steps in to take over administration of the health care insurance system. The problem with this scenario is that taxpayers will be paying the salaries of all of these new public sector employees. This health care legislation will, once and for all, bring the U.S. into the womb of socialism unlike any previous legislation could have ever hoped to. I believe it spells the end of capitalism as we now know it in our great country. There is no sugar coating the Senate health care bill. It will end the free market system in the United States of America.

Summary of the Key Provisions:
1.  Raises taxes in first ten years by $493 billion.
2.  Raises taxes in second ten years by $897 billion.
3.  Cuts Medicare/Medicaid benefits by $436 billion.
4.  Leaves 24 million still uninsured.
5.  Mandates coverage for all individuals or face a penalty of 8% of their adjusted gross income.
6.  Mandates group coverage for all business with 50 or more employees or face penalties of $750 for each employee (not just those that are uninsured).
7.  Imposes a 40% tax on high end health insurance plans (teacher plans, union plans etc.). High end plans include those valued at more than $8,500 for an individual and $23,000 for a family plan.
8.  Sharply expands Medicaid which will add 15 million more individuals. Medicaid is essentially bankrupt today. States pick up 50% of the cost of Medicaid and many states will see cost increases totaling $1 billion or more a year.
9.  Increases Medicaid tax by .05% on individuals making over $200,000 and couples making over $250,000.
10.  Individuals participating in a flexible spending arrangement at work will no longer be able to purchase over the counter drugs.
11.  Insurance companies will be required to accept all clients, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Many private insurers will not be able to afford to do this and be forced out of the marketplace.
12.  Includes a public option, offering states the ability to opt out.
13.  Provides wider insurance coverage for abortion than the House plan.
14.  Employers would be required to report the value of health benefits (now exempt) on the employees W-2. This provision is sometimes called the "AARP" provision as it was added in order to obtain AARP's support for health care legislation, although the AARP denies this.
15.  Caps flexible spending plan contributions to $2,500 a year in cafeteria plans.
16.  Eliminates the deduction for Medicare Part D expenses.
17.  Increases the itemized deduction medical expense floor from 7.5% of AGI to 10% of AGI.
18.  Imposes an excise tax of 5% on cosmetic surgery and similar procedures.
19.  Increases the penalty for non qualified health savings account distributions from 10% to 20%.
20.  Changes the definition for medical expenses for health savings accounts in an effort to limit usage of HSAs funds for over the counter drugs.

There's much, much more, but I just threw up on my research material and its now rendered illegible.