WASHINGTON — A soda pop tax. Higher levies on beer, wine and liquor. Taxing some health insurance benefits. Those are options the Senate is considering to pay for revamping health care.
How to pay for expanding coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured people is the toughest question in the health care debate. Cutting costs is a popular idea, but few experts think enough savings can be made to expand coverage to so many.
The Senate Finance Committee, tasked with finding a solution that can get GOP votes, released 40 pages Monday of revenue-raising options, including cuts to providers and new taxes. Senators will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to debate the options. No figures were included on how much each proposal would raise.
The soda pop tax would apply to drinks, including noncarbonated ones, that contain high-calorie sweeteners. Diet drinks would escape the tax man.
