|
January 15, 2010
We Did It! Improvements Negotiated to the
Excise Tax
CWA leadership, locals and our members have
led the opposition to the excise tax. From
the start, CWA leaders made it clear that a
tax on workers' health care was the wrong
way to finance health care reform. We
fought against this plan in the Senate and
supported our friends in the House of
Representatives who outlined better ways to
finance health care reform. We supported
Connecticut House Representative Joe
Courtney in obtaining 190 signatures on a
letter opposing the excise tax.
Because of this work, organized labor has
been "at the table" and President Cohen and
other labor union leaders have spent many
hours talking with President Obama and White
House officials to work out ways to ease the
negative impact of this tax on our members.
At the same time these discussions were
taking place, you were keeping the pressure
on: first the House, then the Senate, and
then back to the House.
All of this work set the stage for several
days of continuous tri‑party bargaining and
through these negotiations we made
significant strides, not only in protecting
our members, but in protecting all
middle-class families who have health
insurance coverage.
CWA members will be protected through 2017.
That gives us at least one and in some cases
more than one round of bargaining to address
the impact on our members' plans from the
changes.
This is not the plan we would have written
if we were the sole author, but just like
contract negotiations there is another side
at the table. And, in this case there are
three other sides: the House, the Senate
and the White House. We are proud that the
improvements we negotiated protect both
union members and members of the public.
Labor unions have a long history of
protecting all workers and this is another
great example.
Following is the list of improvements we
made:
-
Delays Effect of Tax Until 2018:
Provides a five‑year transition window
for all plans negotiated through
collective bargaining and for state and
local employee plans before they are
potentially subject to the tax. This is
what is typically done under federal
laws to allow parties to collective
bargaining agreements time to
renegotiate the plans.
-
Raises Thresholds for Active Workers:
Raises the threshold at which family
plans are taxed from $23,000 to $24,000
in 2013 for all working families and
from $8,500 to $8,900 for singles.
Annual increases are tied to the
Consumer Price Index plus one percentage
point.
-
Increases Thresholds for Excessive
Inflation: Raises the thresholds higher
if health care costs grow faster than
expected from 2010‑2013.
-
Exempts Dental and Vision Plans from
Threshold Calculations: This will begin
in 2015, which could raise the
thresholds as much as $1,500 for
families.
-
Adds Demographic Factors to Determine
Plan Thresholds: Thresholds for plans
that have a higher average of older
workers and female workers will be
modified to reflect the higher plan
costs for those workers.
-
Maintains Protections for Pre‑Medicare
Retirees and for High‑risk Workers:
Preserves the original Senate proposal
that would raise the thresholds for
plans covering pre‑Medicare retirees and
for plans that include workers in
high‑risk professions (affecting more
than nine million workers). The
thresholds are $26,000/family and
$9,850/single.
-
Blending of Pre‑Medicare and Medicare
Premiums is Maintained: This averaging
significantly reduces the affect of the
tax on plans.
-
Maintains Thresholds for High‑cost
States: Preserves the original Senate
proposal that would raise the threshold
for high‑cost states, affecting more
than 38 million workers.
-
Health Plans Get Access to the Insurance
Exchange: Allows any collective
bargaining unit into the health
insurance exchange in 2017, subject to
collective bargaining.
-
Significantly Reduces Taxes on the
Middle Class: These changes are
estimated to reduce the amount of
revenue raised by $60
billion, decreasing the hit from the
excise tax to $90 billion, from the
original $150 billion over 10 years.
In addition, in the final bill there will be
many other protections for our sons and
daughters who do not have insurance today.
For instance, pre‑existing conditions cannot
be used to exclude coverage.
President Cohen and CWA have been leading
the fight against the proposed excise tax on
health care plans, working with Members of
Congress, employers, organizations,
coalitions, and other groups that understand
that the proposed tax would increase costs
and cut benefits for working and
middle‑income Americans.
More than any other union, CWA's leadership
has really pushed this issue in the
mainstream and online media, on Capitol
Hill, and in building coalitions. Tens of
thousands of phone calls and personal
letters from CWA members, plus visits with
their Members of Congress and staff in both
Washington, D.C., and District Offices have
made our message heard loud and clear. This
work was made possible through the Health
Care Strategic Industry Fund, which enabled
CWA to train field activists who carried out
our critical mobilization program. This week
alone, more than 2,000 calls were made to
Members of Congress by CWA members urging
them to stand strong for fair health care
reform.
As tough as these negotiations were, this
was just one of the many tough issues the
House, Senate and White House leadership
are working to resolve. So, while this has
the support of the leadership, it now has to
be sold to both the House and the Senate and
all of the other differences have to be
resolved.
Once the leadership has worked through their
differences, we expect they will submit a
package to the Congressional Budget Office
for scoring. That will likely take 10 days
to two weeks. Then a bill will be provided
to the House where a majority of 218 votes
are needed to pass it and to the Senate
where a supermajority of 60 votes will be
necessary.
So, let us savor the success of these
efforts, but recognize we still have work to
do in the fight to protect our members'
interests in this historic debate. With our
unity and solidarity, we will turn the
debate into a reality. |
