Don’t Tax my Benefits! Repeal the 40% Health Benefits Tax
You may not have heard of the 40% benefits tax, also known as the “Cadillac” tax, but it’s a penalty built into the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that could affect your paycheck and health care benefits in 2018 if not sooner. It’s urgent that Congress repeal this tax because it could destroy the health and welfare funds of millions of workers, including you and your LIUNA brothers and sisters.
The tax was intended to discourage overly generous and unnecessary plans. But there are unintended consequences for all workers, with union members taking the brunt of it.
As insurance premiums continue to rise, many quality mid-range plans will be subject to the tax – unless benefits and the quality of care are slashed or the plans shut down entirely. Because LIUNA members and other union workers have struggled and sacrificed for years to build quality healthcare plans, ours plans could face cuts sooner rather than later.
The 40 percent benefits tax doesn’t reform healthcare, it punishes responsible employers and workers who for generations have paid for quality healthcare coverage. Employers are already considering ways to slash benefits to avoid the tax.
Members of Congress are back in their districts until the end of August and they need to hear from you on this critical issue.