Companies Desperate to Avoid ObamaCare 'Cadillac Tax' Shifting Costs to Workers

By Jim Angle

A national business group representing the nation’s large employers reported Wednesday that companies desperate to avoid a 40 percent ObamaCare “Cadillac tax” are finding ways to shift the costs to workers.

The so-called “Cadillac tax,” now four years away, will affect health plans that spend more than $10,200 per worker.

“The excise tax, when it hits in 2018, will affect both employers and employees,"said Brian Marcotte, president of the National Business Group on Health.

Employees will get incentives to reduce costs through such arrangements as wellness programs, including losing weight or stopping smoking.

Meanwhile, employers are shifting workers into plans with higher deductibles, just as ObamaCare does in the health care exchanges, and using health savings accounts to help defray the costs.

Another cost saver, Marcotte added, is to increase premiums for spouses who have access to other plans.

"If the spouse has coverage through their own employers, employers are beginning to charge more if they elect to stay on their employee’s plan rather than go with the spouse's plan."

Rosemary Gibson of the Hastings Center said, "Employees are going to be paying more and more of their income for health care. And the same with people even on these exchanges if they don't get subsidies."

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