The employer matches half of what an individual contributes to medicare in the form of payroll deductions. The total that is withheld is 2.9% of an individuals gross income. the employer will contribute 1.45% and the employee will contribute the remaining 1.45%
The amount of medicare tax that is deducted from an individuals paycheck does not change regardless of how low or high the income level may go. This is due to the fact that this is a tax that is to be used to cover the cost of medicare and can not be adjusted , but needs to be a hard rate to be able to predict expenditures for upcoming years of spending.
Under President Obamas’ new health care plan this percentage would increase from 1.45% to 2.35% of individuals who earn more than 200,000 dollars annually. Many economic experts feel this is fiscally responsible policy and will help to maintain the current levels of care that medicare provides for millions of Americans today and into the future.
Under the new plan the percentage will remain at 1.45% but it will be assessed at different levels of income. This tax will be assessed on all income , both earned and unearned, A god example of this is if a married couple has earned income of 150,000 dollars and capital gains of 150,000 dollars they would pay the 2.9% rate medicare tax on the entire 300,000 dollars instead of the 150,000 dollars that is now the current formula. The percentage of which an employer will match medicare contributions is set at 1.45% but may soon be raised to 2.35%.