Bipartisan Congressional Support for Cadillac Tax Growing
“The number of cosponsors signifies a veto proof majority in the House, marking a pivotal point in the effort to repeal the Cadillac Tax."
By - Although the Cadillac Tax is not related to fast and furious cars, it is associated with widespread limitations on workplace health insurance.
The United States Senate voted 90-10 earlier this month to approve an amendment fully repealing the Cadillac Tax –– a 40 percent non-deductible tax on the cost of high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage to commence in 3 years.
“[The] bipartisan Senate vote to repeal the 40 percent tax demonstrates that repeal of the Cadillac tax is a powerful lever that Republicans can use to persuade Democrats to repeal the entire law,” stated Twila Brase, President of the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom.
Brase asserted the GOP should not resign power until Democrats support a repeal.
“If the House accepts and President Obama signs the bill, it would begin to unravel the destructive coverage provisions of the law — the parts of the law that the public is acutely aware of, but not the hidden parts of the law that are causing extensive damage to personal control over health care decisions and the trusted and confidential patient-doctor relationship.”
“The recent vote to repeal the Cadillac Tax is a strong acknowledgement that there is bi-partisan support to repeal or significantly amend the Cadillac Tax,” said Adam C. Solander, a member at Epstein Becker Green, to RevCycleIntelligence.com.
“While the Administration has repeatedly stated that they will veto any legislation that repeals the Cadillac Tax this could signify a mandate for the next administration to deal with this issue.”
291 House members support full Cadillac Tax repeal
Last week, 291 House members signed on to legislation to repeal the Cadillac Tax.
“The number of cosponsors signifies a veto proof majority in the House, marking a pivotal point in the effort to repeal the Cadillac Tax,” wrote the Alliance to Fight the 40 (Alliance) in a recent press release.
“291 cosponsors of the House legislation further illustrates the growing bipartisan support to repeal this onerous tax,” asserted James A. Klein, President of the American Benefits Council.
“This tax does not just touch high-cost healthcare plans – it will hit workers, retirees and families with ordinary coverage who have the misfortune to have catastrophic health events or chronic conditions that are expensive to treat.”
The Cadillac Tax does not merely affect healthcare CEOs with sought-after benefit packages. It puts 175 Americans dependent on employer-sponsored health coverage at risk, said the Coalition.
“A 40% excise tax on insurance plans valued above a dollar threshold, the Cadillac tax, imposed in 2018 and beyond, is first assessed against insurers, then passed along, through higher premium costs, to employers,” stated Dana Beezley-Smith, PhD, a Clinical Psychologist.
“Because the threshold is indexed to ordinary inflation rather than the higher rate of increase in healthcare costs, the tax will eventually target even the skimpiest policies insurers offer.”
Talk of a two-year delay from lawmakers is brewing; the Cadillac Tax is clearly one of many issues the next Presidential candidate has on his or her healthcare reform plate. As repeal of the Cadillac Tax is indeed a hot topic as the elections draw nearer, time will tell regarding how repeal actions and reactions unfold next year.
