Dive Brief:
- Proponents of Obamacare's much maligned Cadillac Tax, set to take effect in 2018, are fighting a proposal to further delay its onset for two years.
- It's expected a two-year delay of the tax on high-cost health plans will likely be included in the upcoming “tax extenders" bill that renews expired tax breaks for two years.
- Reactions are split, as tax supporters argue its revenue will be key to sustaining the ACA, while high ranking Democrats in both the House and Senate prefer eliminating the tax entirely.
Dive Insight:
A delay to the Cadillac Tax could become indefinite, some argue, and become akin to the "doc fix" legislation used over and over to get around Medicare cuts.
“A two-year delay, I’m concerned, turns into a permanent delay,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) was quoted by The Hill. “It was one of the key areas of cost containment, and in a state like mine where we’re still trying to get Medicaid expansion, and state legislators say the federal government’s not going to keep the existing commitments, when you take away one of the substantial pay-fors for healthcare reform, you strengthen their case.”
If the tax is repealed or indefinitely delayed, the government will lose the estimated $91 billion in revenue the tax would bring during the next decade.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration said it opposes efforts to repeal the tax but did not promise a veto.