First he is going to tax people that receive health insurance at work, up until now it has not been taxed. Secondly he is going to give tax breaks to those who buy their own health insurance. So who receives health insurance from work? Those people who really cannot afford health insurance get insurance from work…so AGAIN the basically poor and middle class will see an additional tax. Who buys their OWN health insurance? People who can afford it. So the people that CAN afford health insurance will see tax breaks and those who CANNOT afford health insurance will see a tax on their insurance. Story is here

President Bush has not seen this video apparently.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - President Bush intends to use the State of the Union address on Tuesday to tackle the rising cost of health care with a one-two punch: tax breaks to help low-income people buy health insurance and tax increases for workers whose health plans cost more than the national average.

R20;I will propose a tax reform designed to help make basic private insurance more affordable,” Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday, “whether you get it through your job or on your own.” He did not offer specifics, but an administration official provided details of the plan late Friday afternoon.

As he heads into the address, his first delivered to a Congress controlled entirely by Democrats, Mr. Bush faces intense skepticism from lawmakers over his new strategy in Iraq. But while he will not be able to avoid the subject of Iraq in the speech, White House officials hope to use the address to shift the national conversation away from the war and toward the possibility of bipartisan cooperation in Washington.

The basic concept is that employer-provided health insurance, now treated as a fringe benefit exempt from taxation, would no longer be entirely tax-free. Workers could be taxed if their coverage exceeded limits set by the government. But the government would also offer a new tax deduction for people buying health insurance on their own.

H/T Joe for this post!