INSURANCE TAX BREAK: Examiner Supports Boxer’s Bill

      An editorial in yesterday's San Francisco Examiner favors Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D) proposal to allow a tax deduction of up to $2,000 for "workers who pay their own health insurance premiums." The paper notes that some "16 million Americans buy their own health insurance," primarily those who are not enrolled in employer-subsidized plans and do not qualify for Medicaid. The Examiner contends that while "[t]he step would not help the poorest of the poor, who cannot afford to buy private health insurance and must rely on governmental Medicaid," it would help "millions of working Americans." It adds that coupled with Boxer's "co-sponsorship of a patients' bill of rights," the "proposal has political importance" and demonstrates the Senator's "empathy with health care consumers." The Examiner concludes that "[t]here is a chance of bipartisan backing for this method of improving the ability of some Americans to finance their health insurance" (4/6).