Private Health Insurance:
Estimates of Expanded Tax Deductibility of Premiums for Individually Purchased Health Insurance
HEHS-98-190R: Published: Jun 10, 1998. Publicly Released: Jun 19, 1998.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
(202) 512-7114
contact@gao.gov
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) potential tax benefit that individuals without employment-based health coverage would receive if the cost of their individually purchased health insurance were fully deductible from their federal income taxes; and (2) characteristics of the non-elderly population by their federal marginal tax bracket and health insurance status.
GAO noted that: (1) it provided information on the number of potentially eligible individuals and the amount of the benefit they would have received in 1996 if the cost of individually purchased health insurance premiums had been fully deductible from their federal income taxes; (2) in that year, an estimated 33 million non-elderly individuals would have been eligible for this deduction if it had been available, if they purchased individual health insurance, and if they itemized deductions for their income tax returns; (3) most of these individuals were uninsured and more than two-thirds with taxable income were in the 15-percent tax bracket; (4) for single people with no dependents in 1996, this bracket represented those with taxable incomes of $24,000 or less; (5) married couples with $40,100 or less and heads of households with $32,150 or less were also represented by this tax bracket; (6) however, uninsured individuals would have benefited from an expanded tax deduction only if they had purchased individual health insurance; (7) moreover, those who purchased individual health insurance would have benefited only if they itemized tax deductions rather than claimed a standard deduction; (8) while an expanded deduction for health insurance expenses could encourage more people to itemize deductions, only 29 percent of all tax filers itemized in 1995; (9) tax filers in the lower income groups are less likely to itemize, with only 5 percent of those with adjusted gross incomes of less than $20,000 itemizing; (10) however, nearly 15 million people who either had individual insurance or were uninsured had no tax liability and would not have benefited from such a tax deduction; and (11) in addition, about 6 million people who were uninsured or purchased individual insurance did not file tax returns in 1996.
Jan 21, 2021
-
Rural Hospital Closures:
Affected Residents Had Reduced Access to Health Care ServicesGAO-21-93: Published: Dec 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 21, 2021. -
Health Care Funding:
Federal Obligations to and Funds Received by Certain Organizations Involved in Health-Related Services, 2016 through 2018GAO-21-188R: Published: Dec 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 21, 2021.
Jan 14, 2021
-
Medicaid:
Data Completeness and Accuracy Have Improved, Though Not All Standards Have Been MetGAO-21-196: Published: Jan 14, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 14, 2021.
Jan 4, 2021
-
Medicare Severe Wound Care:
Spending Declines May Reflect Site of Care Changes; Limited Information Is Available on QualityGAO-21-92: Published: Jan 4, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 4, 2021.
Dec 22, 2020
-
Defense Health Care:
Efforts to Ensure Beneficiaries Access Specialty Care and Receive Timely and Effective CareGAO-21-143: Published: Dec 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 22, 2020.
Dec 16, 2020
-
Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports:
Access and Quality Problems in Managed Care Demand Improved OversightGAO-21-49: Published: Nov 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2020.
Dec 14, 2020
-
Drug Pricing Program:
HHS Uses Multiple Mechanisms to Help Ensure Compliance with 340B RequirementsGAO-21-107: Published: Dec 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 14, 2020. -
Substance Use Disorder:
Reliable Data Needed for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant ProgramGAO-21-58: Published: Dec 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 14, 2020.
Dec 10, 2020
-
Indian Health Service:
Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Provider Misconduct and Substandard PerformanceGAO-21-97: Published: Dec 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020. -
Clinical Labs:
Studies Suggest Biopsy Specimen Misidentification and Contamination Errors Are InfrequentGAO-21-59: Published: Nov 10, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 10, 2020.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here