Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a proposal to increase the Medicare payroll tax on high-income workers to help offset the costs of providing health insurance to millions of Americans. The proposal is part of a legislative package that Reid has put together in secrecy and submitted to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis, the New York Times reports. The Medicare payroll tax is the primary source of financing for Medicare's hospital insurance trust fund, which pays hospital bills for beneficiaries, who are 65 and older or disabled.
