Abstract

The Affordable Care Act includes a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health care coverage. Often referred to as the “Cadillac tax,” this excise tax is one of the most controversial elements of the Affordable Care Act.

Currently scheduled to go into effect in 2020, the Cadillac tax poses serious challenges and uncertainty for employers. On the one hand, recent estimates suggest that the Cadillac tax may hit as many as 20 percent of employers with health care plans in 2020. On the other hand, there is a serious question as to whether the tax will be repealed before its effective date; it is politically unpopular and faces bipartisan opposition.

This Article assesses the Cadillac tax and its future. It begins by describing the Cadillac tax. It then discusses the justifications for the Cadillac tax and its likely impact on employer-sponsored health care plans. It then considers the criticisms of the tax and proposed alternatives. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of the likely future Cadillac tax.

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2016

3-16-2017

Notes/Citation Information

Kathryn L. Moore, The Future of the Cadillac Tax, in New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation—2016 8-1 (LexisNexis Matthew Bender 2016).

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.