Hillary Clinton to Propose Scrapping Health Law’s ‘Cadillac Tax’

September 29 - The New York Times
Maggie Haberman

Hillary Rodham Clinton will in the coming days speak out against the so-called Cadillac tax on certain health care plans, a move that is part of a series of reforms she’s suggesting for the Affordable Care Act, according to a union official briefed on her plans.

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 union made an early endorsement of Mrs. Clinton in July.

Many of the union’s members would be affected by the Cadillac tax, which imposes taxes on pricey employer-based coverage plans whose premiums exceed $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,500 for families. The tax is imposed on employers, who can avoid it by reducing benefits to their workers. Its purpose is to help rein in health care costs over all.

Mrs. Clinton had indicated concerns about the tax in a questionnaire she answered for the union this year ahead of the endorsement.

A campaign official confirmed Ms. Weingarten’s account of Mrs. Clinton’s plans, but declined to elaborate.

Still, Mrs. Clinton has devoted this week and next to focusing on making fixes to President Obama’s signature health care law, which she has described as generally effective but in need of certain tweaks.

Mrs. Clinton’s move could help draw support for her campaign from other unions that have been holding off making an endorsement, in part because of support among organized labor’s rank-and-file for Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont.

Those briefed on her plans said she will have a method of replacing the lost revenue in the Cadillac tax through other means.