Cadillac tax

When it comes to the "Grand Bargain" they're pushing in Washington, the movie posters for The Fly said it best: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Othe people are using our lives as bargaining chips. Whether it's the so-called Congressional "Super Committee" or the President's push for that grandé-sized deal, they want to look "grand" while we get stuck with the "bargain."

The Capital's misplaced focus on austerity has led to plenty of bad ideas, but one of the worst is raising the Medicare retirement age to 67. It may be the most destructive deal to come out of Washington since the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It's unfair, short-sighted, and will actually cost the economy more money than we're spending today.

No Democratic President would accept an idea like that, right? Right?

Be afraid. Be very afraid. more »

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The White House has just released "The President's Proposal" on health reform. It must be considered in context, and the context is this: The House and Senate have each passed a bill and they're deadlocked on the differences between them. The President is outlining what he considers a reasonable resolution of the two bills, with the expectation that it will be used to guide the remaining negotiations. more »

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It's been a fascinating anthropological exercise to watch the health excise tax concept (the so-called "Cadillac tax") keep its popularity among Democratic and liberals, even as one study after another discredits the assumptions behind it. It's the Democratic equivalent of trickle-down economics - an idea that doesn't seem to die no matter how much it's contradicted by the facts. more »

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Labor leaders met with the White House last week to hammer out a deal on the health excise tax.  Depending on the outcome of today's Senate race in Massachusetts, that deal is likely to become law.  So how good is it?  Here's an overview:

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The Washington Post has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pushing the wrong policies and making the wrong moves. That's four wrongs in once sentence, and four wrongs don't make a right - unless you're talking about "right"-wing bias. But here's the good news: They've given me an idea that'll make a million bucks.

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The AFL-CIO has announced that it is coordinating a "National Call-In Blitz" today.. more »

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People are saying that the so-called Cadillac tax "might fall flat" and "has real problems."  And those are its defenders.  I can't remember any new policy in recent history whose own advocates had so many complaints with its design. more »

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A blogger contact has told me of a new argument in favor of the health excise tax: Since the tax will be imposed on insurers, the Senate's limit of 15% for insurance company profit and overhead will prevent the cost from being passed on to consumers. There are a number of reasons why that argument won't work: more »

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The theory behind the "Cadillac tax" on health plans is little more than wishful thinking based on dubious research. Advocates believe that forcing employers to cut benefits will lead to cheaper, better care. That's like preventing rain by outlawing umbrellas. more »

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The beat goes on: David Leonhardt, the Times economics blogger and tax supporter, had this exchange regarding the Senate's health excise tax on NPR's "Marketplace" program:

Leonhardt: (It's) a tax on the costliest health-insurance plan. It's an idea health economists really like. more »

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