Clinton calls for repeal of Cadillac tax

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign aides informed Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, of her intentions in the last few days, according to a senior official with the labor group. “The Affordable Care Act is working, plain and simple”, Clinton said. Sanders has supported replacing the revenue with a surtax on the wealthiest Americans, an alternative House Democrats proposed in 2009.

Clinton’s effort is part of a series of changes she is proposing to “build on” the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

Employers have to pay a tax on health plans for their workers in which premiums are greater than $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,500 for families. In fact, the effects are already being felt. “Our folks who are negotiating health care benefits are really anxious about this”.

But many health care experts who view the tax as a crucial part of the Obamacare law are critical of Clinton’s position. Almost half of larger companies would face the tax that year, because they tend to offer better benefits. One of the major goals of Obamacare – and the Cadillac tax – was to drive costs down. This will also likely mean that more health care costs are shifted from premiums to out-of-pocket expenses.

The tax, designed as one of the primary ways to rein in healthcare costs under the law, would be imposed on employers. Instead of preventing unnecessary treatments, “what you really end up doing is hurting people with chronic conditions”.

Another plan Clinton unveiled last week would require health plans to fully cover three annual sick visits to a doctor, prohibit insurers from charging out-of-network rates for services received within a health network, and would provide a $5,000 refundable tax credit per family for out-of-pocket spending that exceeds 5% of annual income.

The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which does nonpartisan healthcare analysis, finds that 60 percent of the public opposes the tax and 28 percent favor it. The next president will be out of office before 2028, the presidential candidates who want to win over unions will have to come up with solutions soon.