Dive Brief:
- On Thursday, Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced legislation to repeal the ACA’s “Cadillac tax,” reports The Hill.
- The "Cadillac tax” is a controversial measure intended to reign in healthcare spending via a hefty surcharge on high-cost employer sponsored health insurance plans. It will go into effect in 2018.
- “My hope is that reasonable members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will join us in this important, bipartisan endeavor to protect middle-class Americans,” Heller wrote in a prepared statement.
Dive Insight:
The tax may not be slated to go into effect for another two and a half years, but it's already causing significant consternation among employers and labor unions.
The measure would tax employers whose health insurance plans cost more than $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,450 a year for families at 40% of the cost above those limits, according to Heller’s press statement.