A Respected Actuary Says the Excise Tax Is Unfair, Won't Work

Nothing brings the readers a-runnin' like the word "actuary" in a headline - especially at holiday time! Well, maybe not ... but this is important: An actuary with the respected Milliman firm has analyzed the excise tax and come to some striking conclusions. The tax may "sound reasonable," he says, but will have "unintended consequences."

Robert H. Dobson writes that "whether someone hits the benefit ceiling is not so much driven by benefit richness as it is by age, gender, profession, health status, and the geography of the covered plan" (in which they're enrolled.) Dobson, like others, likens the tax to the "AMT" (alternative minimum tax), noting that it will affect more middle-class earners with every passing year just as that tax does.

Dobson makes another interesting point, too. He notes that there are minimum benefit requirements in the Senate bill, as well, which could leave health plans squeezed between the "floor" imposed by these requirements and the "ceiling" created by the tax.

If Christmas just isn't Christmas for you without an actuarial analysis, you can read his paper here (pdf).

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future