October 24, 2013
A New York Times piece profiling Senator Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi Nelson Cruz, allowed an erroneous comment from the Senator’s staff go uncorrected. The piece noted that Senator Cruz is on his wife’s health care plan which it reported as costing $20,000 a year. It then presented a statement from a spokesperson for Mr. Cruz:
“The senator is on his wife’s plan, which comes at no cost to the taxpayer and reflects a personal decision about what works best for their family.”
The cost of health insurance is tax deductible. Assuming the Cruz’s are in the highest tax bracket, the tax deduction for Senator Cruz’s health care plan would be more than $8,000 a year. This is far larger than the subsidy that most people would receive in the exchanges.
Thanks to Samuel Adenbaum for calling this one to my attention.
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