12/19/2019

Year-end Spending Bill Fully Repeals Cadillac Tax

This is among many provisions contained in the bill

Full repeal of the “Cadillac tax” on high-cost employer-provided health plans is one of the many provisions included in the $1.4 trillion spending package that Congress is close to passing this week. Enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the "Cadillac tax" would have imposed a 40 percent excise tax beginning in 2022 on employer-provided health plans that exceed $11,200 for an individual and $30,100 for a family.

The goal of the tax initially was to keep healthcare costs down and help defray costs for the ACA, but Democratic and Republican lawmakers gradually surmised that the tax would have ended up hurting working families that have health coverage through their jobs. In July, the House passed a bill on a 419-6 vote to fully repeal the tax, but it had not seen Senate action until this week.

Earlier this month, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) joined a letter signed by a diverse group of more than 1,000 employers, trade groups, health care stakeholders, unions and disease groups that urged Congress to repeal the "Cadillac tax" this year. To avoid the 40-percent tax hike coming in 2022, many employers were already looking to alter their benefit packages to mitigate the tax hit.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.