Portside

The so-called “Cadillac Tax” is a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and is set to take effect in 2018. It will tax employee health plans at a marginal rate of 40% for all costs in excess of certain limits.

The paper points out that calling the excise tax a “Cadillac Tax” is a misnomer because it will fall heaviest on the bread and butter “Chevy Benefits” that provide basic security for working class families.

James McGee, the Executive Director of the Transit Employee’s Health and Welfare Plan, and a principal author of the briefing paper, noted that, “The so-called Cadillac Tax will hit decent union negotiated healthcare plans like a ton of bricks. This paper will help unionists understand the impact of the tax and why we need to finish the job by taking healthcare off the bargaining table and making it a right for everyone in America.”

Turning Chevys Into Cadillacs reviews how the impending imposition of the ACA excise tax will turn nearly every contract negotiation into a war zone as employers increase pressures to cut benefits and shift costs onto the backs of workers and their families. It exposes the flawed assumptions underlying the excise tax and calls for its repeal. If money is needed to finance necessary ACA programs, it should come from healthcare profiteers:

“Why not a 40% excise tax on the ‘Cadillac profits’ of big pharmaceutical companies? Or a 40% tax on the ‘Cadillac salaries’ of healthcare executives.”

Laborer’s President Terry O’Sullivan recently stated that, “The Administration has bent over backwards to make changes for corporations and insurance companies but has totally disregarded the issues affecting the working class.” A number of union leaders have joined him in calling for the repeal of the Cadillac Tax.

The Labor Campaign for Single Payer supports these efforts while pointing out that, even if the tax is repealed, employers’ longstanding attacks on workers’ healthcare will continue. These attacks are driven by constantly accelerating healthcare costs brought about because of the tremendous waste and profit-seeking at the core of our dysfunctional healthcare system.

McGee will be leading a workshop on “The Cadillac Tax: Attacks on Workers Healthcare” at this weekend’s national single payer strategy conference and the Labor Campaign will be looking for opportunities to discuss this issue at other union meetings and conventions.

We must link the fight against the Cadillac tax with the historic fight to win a single-payer Medicare for All system. Ultimately, the best way to guarantee access to quality, affordable healthcare for our members is to guarantee it for everyone.