Cadillac Tax – Health Stew

An ACA Damage Assessment: Real, Non-Critical, and TBD

The post below was first published yesterday on the Commonwealth Magazine website:

On one thing all Affordable Care Act watchers can agree: This autumn saw important developments and changes relating to the nation’s health reform law. How much and how serious? Any immediate assessment is incomplete and the full impact only will be evident through the lens of the 2016 presidential and Congressional election results. Until then, some impacts are clear. So let’s consider…

First, what has happened? Here is my list of key developments:

Congress delayed or suspended for one or two years the operation of three taxes that help finance the ACA: the so-called “Cadillac tax” on high-cost employer-sponsored health insurance policies; the medical device industry tax; and the health insurance provider tax.
The House and Senate are close to final agreement (coming in January) to use the budget reconciliation process to repeal major, critical portions of the ACA, legislation that President Obama will veto and will see his veto sustained.
14 of 23 co-op health insurance plans created from the ACA have collapsed; also, UnitedHealthcare is dropping out of the ACA market.
The third Open Enrollment process is proceeding smoothly with larger than expected numbers signing up for coverage – final numbers yet to come.
On Medicaid, more holdout states are warming up to accepting the ACA expansion, and Kentucky’s new Tea Party governor has abandoned his campaign commitment to repeal that state’s expansion.
More and more experts, from both sides of the ACA divide, are advancing robust and noteworthy proposals for ACA replacement or improvement.

Continue reading “An ACA Damage Assessment: Real, Non-Critical, and TBD”

Will 61 Be the Charm? The New Republican Effort to Gut the ACA

[Note: This post was first published on the Health Affairs Blog.]

For the 61st time since 2011, Congressional Republicans are moving legislation to undermine and dismantle key elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This time, though, will be different.

First, this will be the first time Republicans will use the budget process known as “reconciliation” to advance repeal. Using a budget reconciliation bill prevents Democrats from filibustering the legislation in the Senate, meaning only 51 votes are needed for passage in expedited debate.

Second, this will be the first time that the House and Senate both pass similar legislation to damage the law. As a result, this will be the first time that anti-ACA legislation will reach President Barack Obama’s desk. The President’s veto of this measure is guaranteed, as are the needed votes in the House and Senate to sustain his veto. So this will be another exercise in ObamaCare-Kabuki Theater with some new twists.

What’s In The Reconciliation Package?

The key elements in the legislation, developed by three House Committees (Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Education and the Workforce) including: Continue reading “Will 61 Be the Charm? The New Republican Effort to Gut the ACA”

The Curious Politics of the “Cadillac Tax”

A provision of the Affordable Care Act popularly – or unpopularly – known as the “Cadillac Tax” is getting lots of attention now, even though it doesn’t take effect until 2018. Voices from both parties want quick repeal. And the politics are strange.

Briefly, the tax is a 40% excise on high cost health insurance policies that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families in 2018. It’s 40% on the increment, so an individual policy costing $11,200 would cost an extra $400. It was included to help finance the ACA’s cost and to apply pressure where it hurts the most to restrain the cost of health insurance.

When the ACA was signed into law in 2010, many critics asked: “where’s the cost containment?” One answer was: “the Cadillac tax.” The frequent response was derisive laughter: “The tax doesn’t hit until 2018 and it will be repealed well before then.” No laughter now. Continue reading “The Curious Politics of the “Cadillac Tax””