politics

WASHINGTON - A Republican senator asserted Tuesday during a rancorous floor debate that President Obama's health care overhaul will shorten the lives of America's seniors by cutting Medicare. "I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

A senior Democrat decried such comments as scare tactics designed to kill legislation that he said would improve some benefits for seniors.

At times, the debate recalled the raw charges and countercharges of the summer's town hall meetings.

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., defended the legislation, saying it would make Medicare a smarter buyer and improve prescription coverage and preventive benefits for seniors.

The Senate was debating an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would strip from the bill more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts to home health providers, hospitals, hospices and others.

Polls show that seniors are concerned that expanding coverage for the uninsured will come at their expense. Earlier this year, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and others warned of "death panels" that would deny coverage to frail seniors -- a charge that was widely debunked. Medicare spending actually would keep growing under the Democrats' legislation, albeit at a slower rate.

CONGRESS SCRAMBLES TO EXTEND ESTATE TAX

Next year had been shaping up as a great year to get a big inheritance -- no federal taxes on it. Congress, however, has other plans for the few wealthy heirs expecting a big boon. Uncle Sam may take a 45 percent cut after all.

Under current law, the federal estate tax is scheduled to temporarily disappear next year before returning in 2011 at an even higher rate. But the House is expected to vote as early as Thursday on a bill that would permanently extend the current top rate of 45 percent on estates larger than $3.5 million.

Estates smaller than $3.5 million would continue to be exempt from the tax, and married couples, with a little estate planning, could exempt a total of $7 million from the tax. That leaves less than 1 percent of all estates subject to the tax this year.

The Senate is considering similar legislation, although senators are busy trying to overhaul health care, meaning they will probably have to scramble to address the estate tax by the end of the year.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said it is important to set a permanent estate tax so rich families and small business owners can plan accordingly. He said exempting estates as large as $3.5 million from the tax will protect all but the wealthiest Americans.

The quirk in the law, in which the estate tax would disappear for only a year, came out of a series of tax cuts enacted in 2001. Many Republicans, who controlled Congress at the time, wanted to permanently repeal the estate tax, but they settled on a gradual reduction, with a one-year repeal, to reduce the effect on the federal budget deficit.

Under current law, the estate tax would return in 2011 with a $1 million exemption and top rate of 55 percent, unless Congress acts.