Major Change To Employer-Based Insurance On The Table In O'Care Repeal

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo


By TIERNEY SNEED Published FEBRUARY 16, 2017, 12:18 PM EDT

To pay for their Obamacare replacement provisions, House Republicans are considering imposing a major change to the tax treatment of employer-based insurance plans as part of their legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

House members coming out of a GOP-caucus meeting Thursday on their health care overhaul plans said that capping the tax exclusion for employer plans -- i.e. imposing a monetary limit at which point health benefits are taxed like other forms of income -- was discussed as a potential revenue booster. The proposal is somewhat like the ACA's Cadillac tax, which was hated by Democrats and Republicans alike, and is often included in GOP replacement plans, including the "Better Way" outline offered by Speaker Paul Ryan last summer. Capping the exclusion could solve the problem for Republicans of how to pay for their replacement, as many of them have said that the ACA's current taxes need to be repealed right away. But since it will affect the types of plans used by a vast plurality of Americans, it won't come without a political fight.

"Capping the exclusion, which is to me a Cadillac tax ... it was discussed. I disagree," Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) told reporters after the meeting. Other members, such as Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), signaled they weren't comfortable with the idea.

So far, like many of the other proposals discussed in Thursday's meeting, the details of how the cap would be structured are vague. Republicans are waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to score pieces of the legislative text before making decisions in terms of revenue.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republicans-employer-insurance

[Tanuki]

1. Hmmm, and what about the self-employed and everyone else

who have no access to an employee health plan? What do you propose for that large segment of the American population once you abolish ACA? Other than "tough shit"?

[Friend or Foe]

2. So, in other words

You're going to tax the average working person approximately $1000 to $5000 per year. This is added to the already large premium. Yeah! That should work well for Ryan and his cohorts.

[Zoider]

6. Yep, they're trying to hide the cost

... and hoping most people won't figure out they got screwed.

[Freethinker65]

3. This hits union members, and the middle class. Perfect targets for the GOP

[dalton99a]

16. That's their plan.

[get the red out]

4. Republicans tax the working people

I despise the Republican party.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. ObamaCare not really a tax tho that was Roberts figleaf. But now RepubliCON tax! Oh my! . . nt

[jmowreader]

7. Eventually you'll see everything

I was always under the impression Republicans absolutely despised tax increases, especially on the middle class. Now they're talking about creating a middle-class tax increase. Where did these people come from and can we send them back?

[Tikki]

8. King sized a**h**e reagan got away with it....

They must think their beloved leader, and their weaselly selves are as popular as reagan.


Tikki

[lark]

9. DOA!

Yeah, like Repugs are going to tax themselves for their plan, NOT going to happen.

[SharonClark]

10. It took 8 years to come up with this nonsense?

[paleotn]

11. Repubs raising taxes?

Say it ain't so.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. Somebody get on the line with Grover

Surely, he will oppose this?!

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. The employees have no control over the plan offered

by their employer, so of course they should be taxed!

[Yavin4]

14. Absolutely love this part

Proponents also say that capping the exclusion could help raise wages for low-income workers, as employers are currently more incentivized to pay them in generous health benefits, given the preferential treatment of health plans by the tax system.

So, employers will pay workers more money after cutting off their health care. What world do these people live in?

[Yavin4]

15. Breaking the employer based health insurance system will lead to Single payer.

"If you really want to fix health care, and make health care available for all, then you've got to look at the imbalance between the way employers buy health care coverage and the way families buy health care coverage," Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) said. "Somewhere those disparate treatments need to be broken down and equalized."

Once people who get their coverage through work are thrown off their coverage or have to pay more for it, then the public will become more amenable to a Single payer system. With the employer based health care system, it was easy to rally the public against Single payer by scaring people that they would lose their coverage or won't be able to see their primary care physician.