WASHINGTON – Job-based health care benefits could wind up on the chopping block if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans get serious about cutting the deficit.
Budget proposals from leaders in both parties have urged shrinking or eliminating tax breaks that help make employer health insurance the leading source of coverage in the nation and a middle-class mainstay.
Editor’s Note: If group health care costs the employer about 8-10% of payroll, and becomes taxable, then would it not be better for the employer to drop his health plan and pay the employees an additional 8-10% in pay. After all, employee wages are tax exempt to the employer and is another line item in the cost of doing business.
