Undoing Health Law Could Have Messy Ripple Effects

1:36 PM, Jun 10, 2012   |    comments
President Barack Obama speaks to reporters on June 8, 2012. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Overturning President Barack Obama's health care law might not be as simple as it sounds.

Here's a twist that shows why:

Experts say it could lead to higher taxes for some families with a young adult covered under a parent's plan.

It's a popular benefit and employers and insurers could keep offering it if the Supreme Court strikes down the law.

But economist Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute says many parents would face higher taxes as a result - a couple of hundred dollars a year or more.

That's because they would have to pay for the young adult's coverage with after-tax dollars. Under the health care law, that coverage now comes out of pre-tax dollars.