web1_Ebert.jpg

Rick Ebert: Penn State Extension offices jeopardized by state budget stalemate; help us #SavePSUag!

web1_TTL030316Dotty-Martin2.jpg

Beyond the Byline: Learn more about members of the Times Leader news staff

I am writing to encourage our U.S. senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, to make permanent the repeal of the health insurance tax concealed in the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.According to the National Federation of Independent Business, this insidious tax will reduce private-sector job creation by 125,000 jobs and reduce our real gross domestic product by $20 billion to $33 billion by 2023.This tax threatens the health of working parents and their dependents, as it could force employers to make cuts to investments in health programs, wellness initiatives and disease-management tools people currently depend on just to cover the tax.Worse, this regressive tax will cause premium increases, which always hit the working poor harder than others. An increase of $500 a year, which is what former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin projects it will cost, is simply unaffordable.Congress did the right thing in temporarily suspending the collection of this tax at the close of 2015.It&#8217;s time to stop the health insurance tax of Obamacare permanently.Kim DeMatteo-MacDonaldOlyphant

Letter to the Editor: Damaging health insurance tax deserves to get deep-sixed