How Would the Tax Have Worked?

Both of these factors contributed to the controversial nature of the Cadillac tax.

How Would the Cadillac Tax Have Been Beneficial?

Female manager discussing business

pixelfit / Getty Images

This is because the insurance planrather than the patientis paying for all or nearly all of the cost.

Critics of the Cadillac tax noted that it would unfairly penalize employers based in those areas.

What About Inflation?

Healthcare spending had been rising faster than the CPI for a long time.

That could have resulted in the Cadillac tax eventually becoming a “Chevy tax.”

It’s important to understand that this analysis applied to employers rather than employees.

And eventually, run-of-the-mill plans (as opposed to just high-end plans) might have been impacted.

Over the long run, that can result in chronic conditions that aren’t well-controlled.

its benefits weren’t dramatically better than average), but that had higher-than-average premiums due to other factors.

Some high-premium plans might have high premiums for reasons other than their benefit design.

But employers, unions, consumers, and politicianson both sides of the aislewere largely opposed to it.

But there was certainly not universal agreement that the Cadillac tax should have been repealed.

Congress.gov.H.R.2029, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016.

Enacted January 22, 2018.

Congress.gov.H.R.1865 - Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020.

Enacted December 20, 2019.

Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office.Options for Reducing the Deficit, 2019-2028.

Kaiser Family Foundation.Employer Health Benefits, 2022 Summary of Findings.

Tax Foundation.While Likely to be Repealed, the Cadillac Tax Would Control Health Care Costs.

July 16, 2019.

Aaron, Henry J.; Blumberg, Linda J.; Ginsburg, Paul B.; Zuckerman, Stephen.

Urban Institute.Building a Better Cadillac.

Lemieux, Jeff; Moutray, Chad.About That Cadillac Tax.

April 25, 2016.

Health Affairs, January 2010, Vol 29, No 1.

Rae, Matthew; Claxton, Gary, Levitt, Larry.

Kaiser Family Foundation.How Many Employers Could Be Affected by the High-Cost Plan Tax.

July 12, 2019.

Anchorage Daily News.Obamacare ‘Cadillac tax’ could hit hard for health plans in high-cost Alaska.

September 28, 2016.

March 17, 2016.

Congress.gov.H.R.748 - Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019.

Passed House July 17, 2019, and sent to the Senate for consideration.

July 16, 2019.

Van de Water, Paul N. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.Policymakers Shouldnt Repeal or Further Delay Cadillac Tax.

“March 12, 2019.