The “Cadillac” health plan is a myth

The “Cadillac” health plan is a myth

click link

snip


Alas, that appears to be far from the case. As the New York Times reported last week, municipal unions across the country are facing pressure to accept worse health care plans, before the so-called “Cadillac tax” on expensive health care plans kicks in in 2018.  Not surprisingly, workers are displeased with the prospect of being downgraded to inferior plans with more out-of-pocket spending.

Before concluding that such luxurious plans are the sole preserve of supposedly greedy city workers, keep in mind that by the estimate of one health economist, as many as 75 percent of employer health plans could fall under the “Cadillac” umbrella over the next decade. Reasonably good insurance – you know, the kind that covers all of your medical needs, without making you pay an arm and leg out-of-pocket every time you need to use it – has stealthily become the new Cadillac. However much the reputation of General Motors may have fallen in recent years, this seems like a bit of a stretch.

A reasonable observer might be enticed to ask: What on earth is going on here? From whence came this health care Cadillac?

To begin, the nationwide trend towards lower-value health insurance – now enshrined in law in the form of the Cadillac tax – is not, contrary to appearances, some newfangled, desperate cost-saving measure. On the contrary, limiting the scope of employer-based health insurance has been a dream of health policy wonks for decades.