Congressman Boustany – Obamacare Effects Start Jan. 1

Congressman Charles Boustany is home for the holidays and stopped by the KPEL studio to visit 'Mornings With Ken and Bernie'.  Today the visit was with Ken and Chef Pat Mould who was filling in for the vacationing Bernadette Lee.

As we get ready to mark the end of 2013 we are also set to see the beginning of 2014 and the start of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.  We asked Congressman Boustany if all the provisions would become effective January 1, 2014 and he said,

Most of the provisions hit in 2014.  The bulk of those taxes that I've been talking about for a long time, 21 new taxes hit in 2014.  That includes 3.8% additional tax on investments if you're above a certain income threshold.  That will push people in the top bracket to a federal tax rate of 45%.

In addition to the investment tax Congressman Boustany said there's another tax that will affect insurance companies.  According to Congressman Boustany,

There's a health insurance tax that takes effect in 2014.  It's a tax on the insurance companies based on market share and the number of premiums they've underwritten in any given market.  Here's the problem, that cost will be passed on to people who are buying health insurance.  2014, I do believe is going to be a year where over the course of that year we'll see a bump, another shock in premium hikes as a result of that particular tax plus some other expenses that will be added in.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi recently said she thought the most pressing issue facing the nation in 2014 would be extending jobless benefits past 99 weeks.  Congressman Boustany disagreed with her,

She's got it completely backwards.  The bottom line is we need a growing private sector in the economy creating value and creating jobs.  We have that in Louisiana.  We promote energy production in this state and we're seeing job growth.  In fact we have billions of dollars on the table right now in investment that is creating jobs.

The Congressman had a lot more to say about Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi, job creation and the farm bill.  You can hear all of his comments by clicking the button below: