Affordable Care Act (2010-2011) excise tax on employer health insurance plans

Via the “Cadillac tax,” as of 2018, plans costing more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families will be subject to a 40% tax on the amount over those thresholds . . . The excise tax was a substitute for the more straight-forward policy of limiting the tax exclusion of employer contributions [which has been criticized] on both distributive and allocative grounds: it provides the biggest subsidies to high-income employees with the most generous insurance, and it contributes to America’s inflated health spending by obscuring the trust costs” (Starr, 258, 223).