Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Flexible Spending Accounts Might Vanish When 'Cadillac Tax' Kicks In
A popular middle class tax benefit could become one of the first casualties of the Affordable Care Act’s so-called Cadillac tax, affecting millions of voters. Flexible spending accounts, which allow people to save their own money tax free for everything from doctor’s co-pays to eyeglasses, may vanish in coming years as companies scramble to avoid the law’s 40 percent levy on pricey health care benefits. (Faler, 8/31)
The union representing thousands of film, television and digital media writers is seeking an exemption for all unions from the Affordable Care Act’s “Cadillac tax” on high cost health plans. In a letter to the Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, the Writers Guild of America East argued that health care plans negotiated under collective bargaining agreements should be exempted from the tax on high cost plans, which takes effect in 2018. (Chasan, 8/28)
Most insurance companies selling health plans in the state’s individual market will get to raise customers’ premiums in 2016, but not by as much as they proposed, and one major carrier will have to lower its rates, according to decisions released by the Connecticut Insurance Department Saturday. (Levin Becker, 8/29)
America’s Olympians now have officially qualifying health insurance, after the federal government and the U.S. Olympic Committee reached an agreement last week on the status of their coverage. That news may come as a surprise to some of the 850 athletes and 225 dependents enrolled in the special health plan through USOC, who already had been receiving an array of health benefits under it. (Radnofsky, 8/29)
