Healthcare Bill Punishes Institution of Marriage

Under the health insurance overhaul plan being pushed by the Democrats in Congress, married couples would pay thousands of dollars more for the same health insurance coverage as unmarried people living together.

For many middle-class and lower-income couples, the plan proposed by Obama and Pelosi will mean a hike of $2,000 or more in annual insurance premiums the moment they are married.

From the Wall Street Journal:

For an unmarried couple with income of $25,000 each, combined premiums would be capped at $3,076 per year, under the House bill. If the couple gets married, with a combined income of $50,000, their annual premium cap jumps to $5,160 -- a "penalty" of $2,084. Under the Senate bill, a couple with $50,000 combined income would pay $3,450 in annual premiums if unmarried, and $5,100 if married -- a difference of $1,650.

The marriage penalty in the health bill has not been a major focus of attack by Republican opponents of the bill, who are focusing on larger themes such as new taxes in the bill and growth in government spending. But it has caught the attention of some conservative groups, who claim that the prospect of reduced subsidies will dissuade people from tying the knot.

One of the reasons that I oppose the Democrats and their liberal agenda so strongly is because I believe that its unintended conquences will be to create a society that is less moral, less law-abiding, and less prosperous than a society that is built around conservative ideas. With legislation such as this and other acts Democrats appear to be encouraging people not to get married. They are using the power of the federal government to create disincentives for marriage, and encouraging people instead to live together without marriage.

This is wrong. Being married is a great thing. But increasingly the government is penalizing me and my wife for being married, instead encouraging through law after law for us to instead live together in an unmarried state. Democrats are wrong to do that, and they are wrong to advance this healthcare bill.