House Dems consider insurance tax

? House Democrats are considering a tax on high-cost insurance plans to help pay for health care overhaul that tops President Barack Obama’s domestic agenda.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday the tax is “under consideration” as Democrats search for consensus within their ranks before taking a bill to the House floor later this fall.

“We just have to see how much money we need for what,” Pelosi said. “And if we’re taking the bill down in cost, there are other provisions in the Senate bill that bend the (costs) curve that might be more palatable. We’ll see.”

Pelosi didn’t specify what other provisions she might find more acceptable. An aide said that if the House does incorporate an insurance tax in its plan, it would probably be a more modest one than what Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed.

The House Democratic plan calls for raising income taxes on upper-income people to pay for covering the uninsured. Baucus has instead proposed a tax on high-cost insurance plans worth more than $8,000 for an individual policy and $21,000 for family coverage.