Grover Norquist wrote an op-ed for the Daily Caller in which he highlighted the ways that the new taxes in ObamaCare are harmful to young people. They’ll blow you away. Ask yourself, college generation, was this the “Hope” you turned out in droves to vote for in 2008?

Out of the 20 new or higher taxes in Obamacare, there are four that most hurt young adults and children. Every single one of these taxes violates President Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise any form of taxes on families making less than $250,000.

The first is the “individual mandate” excise tax. Under Obamacare, all young adults must purchase “qualifying health insurance” (defined by unelected federal bureaucrats) or face an excise tax penalty of at least 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income. For many people in their late 20s or early 30s, health insurance may not fit into a budget that includes paying back student loans, starting a family or finding a job. Others might want to obtain health insurance, but find their preferred plan is no longer “qualified” by President Obama’s HHS bureaucrats. Raising taxes on young people is the wrong way to get them to buy health insurance.

The second Obamacare tax hike on young adults and kids is the “medicine cabinet tax.” This tax increase is already in effect. Since January of 2011, young people have not been able to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines from their flex-spending accounts (FSAs) or health savings accounts (HSAs). Since many young people require only light use of medical providers and can treat many illnesses over the counter, this tax increase falls on a large percentage of their actual out-of-pocket health expenditures.

Many of the products that parents buy their children fall victim to this tax. Cough syrup, ear infection medicine and children’s pain relief products all must now be purchased on an after-tax basis. This raises the cost of providing health care to children.

The third Obamacare tax hike on young adults and kids is on FSAs. Many young people and parents of young children participate in flex accounts (FSAs) at work. Obamacare imposes a new cap of $2,500 per year on these accounts, which currently face no limits from the tax code. This will, again, fall largely on parents with young children. Consider braces, for example. A parent needing to buy a $4,000 pair of braces might want to run that cost through their flex account to make it pre-tax. A $2,500 cap makes that impossible for the whole cost.

Another example is tuition for special-needs education, which can be claimed as a flex-account reimbursement expense. Children with severe developmental disabilities often require special education that can run well in excess of $10,000 per year in tuition. Thus, the FSA cap hurts families with special-needs children.

The fourth Obamacare tax hike on young adults and kids involve health savings accounts (HSAs). Many young people are embracing HSAs. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, there are now more than 8.4 million accounts containing $12.4 billion in assets. Those numbers are up 55 and 70 percent, respectively, in just one year.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/20/obamacares-four-tax-hikes-on-young-adults-and-kids/#ixzz1pn7iEtty