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‘Cadillac Plans’ Get Obamacare Cut Back

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Big employers, cutting back on full-coverage health care as Obamacare’s ‘Cadillac Tax’ begins to bite.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, accompanied by members of the House Democratic Caucus, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 24, 2015, during an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Affordable Care Act. (AP)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, accompanied by members of the House Democratic Caucus, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 24, 2015, during an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Affordable Care Act. (AP)

Guests

Julie Rovner, senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News. Former health policy correspondent for NPR News. Author of the book, "Health Care Policy and Politics, A to Z." (@jrovner)

Mark Pauly, health economist at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), Congressman from Connecticut's second district. (@repjoecourtney)

Elise Gould, director of health policy at the Economic Policy Institute. (@eliselgould)

From Tom’s Reading List

POLITICO: 'Cadillac tax' the next big Obamacare battle — "A mix of business groups and labor unions are pushing to tee up the next big Obamacare fight: killing its so-called Cadillac tax. It is, they say, the type of Obamacare 'fix' that Republicans and Democrats can agree on — notwithstanding the problem of filling an $87 billion budget hole that nixing the levy would produce."

The Week: Why Americans need to stop getting health care through their employers — "One of the great virtues of the Cadillac tax is it will slowly unwind this system. Its threshold is designed to hit more and more employer-provided plans over time: 60 percent by 2022. It's a crude way to do it — conservative wonks, to their credit, have suggested just capping the tax exclusion instead, which would be cleaner — but it's what we got. Over time it will force people out of the employer-provided system, and that is a good thing."

Forbes: Obamacare 40% Cadillac Tax Hits No Frills Plans Too. Like Your Plan, Keep Your Plan? — "Plainly, the Cadillac name is a gross misnomer. It will apply to many benefits that are hardly elite. The sea change is enormous. Company provided health benefits have not been taxed for generations. And that is exactly what the deceptively named Cadillac tax does. It is broad too, applying to health savings and flexible spending accounts, supplemental insurance plans, and more."

This program aired on April 14, 2015.

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