Tuesday, January 15, 2013
January 15 will be the first paycheck of 2013 for many workers. Did you notice the higher taxes you're now paying?
In 2013, the 15th of January isn't just halfway through the first month of the year. For many people who are paid twice a month, the 15th will be their first paycheck of the New Year - and the first check they've gotten since the end of the FICA tax holiday. Remember the Fiscal Cliff? Part of the battle between President Obama and the Republican Congress included whether the employee's share of that temporary tax reduction would be allowed to lapse, and thus hike taxes on middle-class workers. The Fiscal Cliff resolution wound up including the expiration of a 2 percent Social Security temporary tax reduction, the result of which is now reflected in everyone's paycheck. Now, the employee's share of FICA tax is 6.2 percent, up from the 4.2 …
Friday, January 4, 2013
Instead of 26.5-percent reduction for physicians, hospitals will see federal payments lowered.
In enacting the complex web of legislation that averted going over the so-called fiscal cliff, Congress also avoided a 26.5-percent cut in Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors. But the agreement will instead lead to reduced federal payments to hospitals, leading one hospital advocate to describe the measure as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” While the range of tax and spending items affected by the fiscal-cliff negotiations was unusual, the need to address Medicare payments to doctors has become a nearly annual rite in Washington, leaving doctors in New Jersey fearful of steep reductions every winter. The Medicare payment cut is the result of a 1997 law that was intended to limit the entitlement program’s spending but has failed to keep …
Friday, December 28, 2012
The financial deadline looms in Washington, with no deal yet made. Check this primer, and share your questions and thoughts.
With Christmas 2012 over, one reality check is that the looming "fiscal cliff" deadline is just a few days away. On December 31, tax cuts dating to the George W. Bush presidential term are scheduled to expire, and President Obama and congressional leaders have not reached a compromise. Of course, that means tax bills would increase for many middle- and upper-class taxpayers. And that means paycheck withholding for many workers would change, leaving them with less take-home pay in the new year. Apparently, though, there will be no immediate change in withholding tables, while the situation is unresolved. According to John Tuzynski, the IRS’ chief of employment tax policy, employers should continue to use 2012 withholding tables and personal…
Saturday, December 22, 2012
No compromise by January 1 is going to cost NJ hospitals big, reaching an agreement could cost them even more.
New Jersey healthcare facilities face more than $1.3 billion in cuts to Medicare payments over the next decade, if President Barack Obama and Congress can't pull the country back from the fiscal cliff by January 1. Paradoxically, the cuts could be even deeper if the president and Congress do hammer out a compromise. That's because both parties have proposed slicing Medicare even closer to the bone as part of their negotiations. Under a 2011 law, Medicare payments would be cut by 2 percent across the board under automatic reductions known as “sequestration,” which would reduce most discretionary spending. Other health programs targeting low-income residents would see even deeper cuts. The New Jersey Hospital Association estimates that …
