On July 17, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted across bipartisan lines to repeal the ACA’s Cadillac Tax. The final vote in the House was 419-6 in favor of repeal. The tax was designed as a penalty tax on high-value health coverage, to convince health plan sponsors to reduce benefits and keep costs down by discouraging overly generous plans. However, both employers and union groups opposed the tax.
This repeal is good news for plan sponsors but the measure still has to pass the Senate. One of the challenges to Senate passage is that the tax was originally included to help finance the ACA. Repealing the tax without replacing it with some other revenue source arguably leaves a sizable hole in the federal budget. It is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office that repealing the tax will cost the government approximately $196.9 billion over 10 years.
The Cadillac Tax, originally slated to go into effect in 2018, has been delayed by Congress repeatedly. After several delays, the 40% excise tax on the cost of health coverage that exceeds predetermined threshold amounts goes into effect in 2022. Currently, those thresholds, which will be updated prior to 2022, are $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.
Diversified Group will keep you up to date on any additional action on this topic.
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