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A controversial clause in the U.S. healthcare overhaul, charging Americans living abroad a $ 750 annual tax for insurance they might never use, is unlikely to pass, said local accountants and activists yesterday. On Tuesday, Americans in Israel were up in arms about the clause, as the Associations of Americans and Canadians in Israel called on people to protest the bill, which is being discussed in the Senate as part of US President Barack Obama's health care reform.
"In the House bill, the excise tax was squashed and I am assuming it will be squashed in the Senate too," said Joanne Yaron,
chairwoman of Democrats Abroad-Israel. It was due to Democrats Abroad that the House removed the tax from its bill, she said.
"We have people who are very close to the issue and keeping their eyes open," Yaron said. "If something like that gets into
the [Senate] bill, I am fairly certain they will come forward again and point out the reasons why it can't be levied on
oversea Americans. It simply wouldn't be fair. "
"It just doesn't seem possible that the bill would pass with an excise tax," she continued. "Even if the bill isn't squashed
in the Senate, it would then get to the president's desk, and I don't think he'd accept it. "
A long wait for hip replacement surgery was what prompted the Quebec case that wound up before the Supreme Court.
George Zeliotis argued his yearlong wait for surgery was unreasonable, endangered his life, and infringed on the charter's
guarantee of the right to life, liberty and security. The second plaintiff, Dr. Jacques Chaoulli, wanted the court to
overturn a Quebec provision preventing doctors who don't operate within the medicare plan from charging for services in
public hospitals.