Improvements Made to Health Care Bill
Negotiators in Washington have reached a tentative deal on the excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” health care benefits. The deal is part of negotiations between President Obama, and leaders of the House and Senate in Washington, designed to reconcile differences in the health care bills passed by each chamber.
The deal, which makes several improvements to the existing tax on high-end health plans, was made possible because of the enormous amount of pressure placed on members of Congress by CWA activists around the country, including thousands of calls from CWAers in New Jersey.
The work of a united labor movement has made a huge improvement in the proposed health care reform bill so that the health care of millions of Americans, both union members and those not in unions, will be protected.
To pay for the plan, the House bill placed a tax on individuals earning more than $500,000 in income a year, while the Senate plan relied on a range of others, including taxing health benefits.
The problem is that while the Senate bill taxed “Cadillac” plans, it was written in a way to also hit many plans that fall into the “Chevy” category, and there was strong pressure on members of the House to accept the Senate version of the bill in order to secure the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate. Indeed, under the version of the bill passed by the Senate, many, if not most of the health plans by CWA members in New Jersey would have been subject to a tax within just a few years.
CWA will continue to monitor the negotiations happening in Washington, and will call on members to call their representatives one more time when the bill is ready for a final vote. At this point, CWA is optimistic that the bill will be one we can support.
