Late Night Agreement Made

January 15, 2010

"Cadillac Plan" Tax will go into effect in 2018

In what is seen to be a major break through in healthcare reform, union members will now be exempt from the proposed surtax on expensive health plans. Additionally, dental and vision plans will be exempt from the surtax and the family policy threshold has been increased from $23,000 to $24,000. Certain plans with older members and women may be exempt from the threshold. Of significant note, non-union members with similar plans will start to have to pay the tax starting in 2013. Now congress is faced with finding other revenue sources to offset the delay in implementing this tax.

An article released in the Wall Street Journal (1/15) included a scenario where a married couple earning $35,400 each would be obligated to pay $13,100 under mandatory health insurance payments in addition to losing eligibility for subsidies. Single individuals earning the same amount would only have to pay $3,611each (a difference of $5,878 per couple).

The expediency of moving the healthcare bill forward may be tied to the Senatorial election being held on Tuesday, January 19th in Massachusetts. If the Republican candidate wins, the Democratic will lose their super majority.

The aforementioned articles and other healthcare reform articles can be read in the January 15, 2010 NAHU Newswire .

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