Commentary: I’ve learned a lot in recent months about the importance of civic responsibility. A vacant church property in my largely residential neighborhood has been sold to a private developer who is determined to tear down the church building and erect in its place a six-story housing development for college students. Community members have rallied, launching letter-writing campaigns, meeting with city officials and spending countless hours learning the intricacies of sound municipal planning so that they can oppose the development in a thoughtful manner. And when communities rally and make their voices heard, change is possible.
The employer community has certainly made its voice clear on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax. I’ve yet to hear from an employer who is supportive of the 40% tax, set to go into effect in 2018, on health plans exceeding $27,500 for a family or $10,200 for an individual. About one-third of employers are currently at risk for triggering the tax in 2018 if they make no changes to their most costly plan, according to consulting firm Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. Research from the National Business Group on Health, meanwhile, reveals that nearly half of large employers say that if they don’t take measures to control costs now, at least one of their health plans will reach the threshold triggers for the Cadillac tax in 2018.
