Will the ‘Don’t-Blame-Me’ Democrats Take Responsibility and Fix Health Reform?

January 20, 2010

It hurts to lose a Senate seat but, hey – setbacks happen in politics. What’s really discouraging is the sight of Democrats, from the White House on down, refusing to […]

How Good Is the White House Deal With Labor Over the “Cadillac Tax”?

January 19, 2010

Labor leaders met with the White House last week to hammer out a deal on the health excise tax.  Depending on the outcome of today’s Senate race in Massachusetts, that […]

The Washington Post: Always Fighting the Wrong War

January 14, 2010

The Washington Post has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pushing the wrong policies and making the wrong moves. That’s four wrongs in […]

Special – Today Only! Call To Stop the Health Tax

January 13, 2010

The AFL-CIO has announced that it is coordinating a “National Call-In Blitz” today.. If you call this toll free number – 1-877-3-AFLCIO (1-877-323-5246) – you can “urge your representative to […]

Jonathan Chait’s Endless Love

January 13, 2010

The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait has penned an ode to the excise tax on health benefits. He says his “faith in the Cadillac tax remains ardent,” even after being led […]

A Tax Even Its Defenders Can’t Love

January 11, 2010

People are saying that the so-called Cadillac tax “might fall flat” and “has real problems.”  And those are its defenders.  I can’t remember any new policy in recent history whose […]

The 15% Solution

January 10, 2010

A blogger contact has told me of a new argument in favor of the health excise tax: Since the tax will be imposed on insurers, the Senate’s limit of 15% […]

Weird Science: Why Politicians and Pundits Cling to the “Cadillac Tax” Idea

January 8, 2010

The theory behind the “Cadillac tax” on health plans is little more than wishful thinking based on dubious research. Advocates believe that forcing employers to cut benefits will lead to […]

NYT’s David Leonhardt Keeps Clinging to Disproved Ideas

January 7, 2010

The beat goes on: David Leonhardt, the Times economics blogger and tax supporter, had this exchange regarding the Senate’s health excise tax on NPR’s “Marketplace” program: Leonhardt: (It’s) a tax […]

Video Shows Obama Denouncing the ‘Cadillac Tax’

January 7, 2010

Blogger and video producer Lee Stranahan has produced a video that includes footage of Barack Obama denouncing the so-called ‘Cadillac tax’ during last year’s Presidential campaign. Stranahan, who is an […]

President to Meet With Unions Regarding the Health Tax

January 7, 2010

Amid indications from President Obama that he wants the House to adopt the Senate’s health tax, we learn that he will meet with labor to discuss their concerns about the […]

Maggie Mahar Fact-Checks the Tax

January 5, 2010

Respected health writer Maggie Mahar (“Money-Driven Medicine”) got curious and decided to fact-check the excise tax. Wisely, she follows the money – which in the world of health care follows […]

True Confessions

January 5, 2010

In a new piece at The Huffington Post, your humble correspondent begins the New Year in a time-honored fashion: with an act of confession for past sins. The piece is […]

It’s 2010. Polls Show the Excise Tax is Still Unpopular.

January 4, 2010

A Washington Post poll taken in mid-October showed that 61% of people surveyed opposed the excise tax, with only 35% supporting it. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken at the same […]

Excise Tax World: Where Dead-Tree Media Goes Viral Overnight

December 29, 2009

Conventional wisdom has it that print journalism (and its editorial columns) are dead. Tell it to Bob Herbert. His column lambasting the excise tax went viral today on both the […]

The President Gets It Wrong On the Excise Tax

December 28, 2009

The President came close to endorsing the so-called “Cadillac tax” when he was interviewed about health reform on NPR. Here’s what the President said when the subject came up: “I’m […]

An Exchange About the Excise Tax With Ezra Klein of the Washington Post

December 23, 2009

Ezra Klein has responded thoughtfully to my criticism of him.  I felt he should have mentioned the numerous studies which challenge the assumptions behind the excise tax, given his strong […]

A Respected Actuary Says the Excise Tax Is Unfair, Won’t Work

December 22, 2009

Nothing brings the readers a-runnin’ like the word “actuary” in a headline – especially at holiday time! Well, maybe not … but this is important: An actuary with the respected […]

What Your Favorite Blogger May Not Be Telling You About Health Reform

December 21, 2009

The progressive  “journo/blogospere” is sharply split over the Senate health bill.  Some, like Jane Hamsher and

The Senate Health Bill: The Price of Everything

December 20, 2009

Our new piece on the politics and policy of the Senate’s health reform deal is up at The Huffington Post, and it addresses the excise tax at several points: “if […]

We’re Not Switzerland (expanded)

December 19, 2009

The pro-Senate health bill contingent keeps trotting out the example of Switzerland to buttress their arguments.  Here’s a quick recap of why the comparison doesn’t work:  First or all, Switzerland […]

Washington Post Analysis Strikes at the Excise Tax

December 18, 2009

Business columnist and Fortune Senior Editor Allan Sloan just wrote a piece in the Washington Post about the excise tax. It’s smart, cogent, and well-written. (Translation: Wish I’d written it.) […]

Is Truth the Next Casualty in the White House Health Campaign?

December 17, 2009

Many of us admire the wealth of talent on display in the White House, so it’s disappointing when there is a breakdown in the accuracy or completeness of information being […]

10 Myths Behind the Movement to Accept The Senate Health Bill ‘As Is”

December 16, 2009

I just put up a piece in The Huffington Post outlining what I consider 10 myths or assumptions that are currently being used to weaken resistance to the current draft […]

Somebody at TIME Hasn’t Done Their Homework

December 15, 2009

That somebody is Kate Pickert, who wrote about the excise tax at TIME’s “Swampland” blog. Editors will be editors, so we can’t necessarily blame her for the piece’s misleading title: […]

The Fight Rages On

December 15, 2009

I have a piece up on my own blog which challenges numbers-whiz Nate Silver for his takedown of progressives. He doesn’t think they should be fighting for a better health […]

An Overlooked Number: How Overstated Is That CBO Estimate of $149 Billion in Excise Tax Revenue?

December 14, 2009

The $149 billion number – the amount of revenue the CBO estimates the excise tax will bring in – has becoming gospel in Washington. But there’s a very good chance […]

The Front Line: Senate and House Anti-Tax Fighters

December 14, 2009

The battle to resist the excise tax continue, with a front line of resistance forming in the House and Senate. Efforts include the movement to drum up support for the […]

NY Post: Raising Taxes On Health Care Doesn’t Equal Cost-Cutting

December 14, 2009

Kirsten Powers has an editorial at the New York Post attacking the excise tax. “(N)no topic has gotten more ink during the health-care debate than cost,” she observes. “This question […]

The Women’s Health Amendment and the Excise Tax: One Hand Giveth …

December 12, 2009

Recently the Senate passed Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s Women’s Health Amendment, which requires health insurance companies to provide free mammograms and other preventive health services for women. This was lauded by […]

Sanders, Franken, and Brown Introduce Amendment to Replace Excise Tax

December 11, 2009

Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, and Sherrod Brown have introduced a bill in the Senate that would replace the excise tax on higher-cost health plans with a tax on very high-earners. […]

Yglesias: Another Progressive Gets the Excise Tax Wrong

December 10, 2009

Matt Yglesias is right to skewer a truly terrible idea from Sen. Tom Carper. Sen. Carper wants a health tax based on the rate of increase a health plan experiences […]

New Poll Shows Excise Tax Is Politically Unpopular, Likely To Hurt Re-election Prospects For Legislators

December 10, 2009

A recent poll released today provided the first comprehensive look at the political popularity of the excise tax on higher-cost health plans, and the results should raise grave political concerns […]

Read Us on DailyKos

December 9, 2009

We’re summarized some of our content on DailyKos. Stop on by if you have any comments to add. As we told the Kossacks: A lot of folks in Washington like […]

Breakthrough? Two Research Papers Slam the Excise Tax

December 9, 2009

Two new papers published today in Health Affairs could help turn opinion against the excise tax, especially from an academic perspective. Using a combination of analysis and interpretation, six researchers […]

Excise Tax Will Target Large Corporations – And Further Erode Our Social Safety Net

December 9, 2009

“We’re finding that about half of the large employers we work with will be at or above the (excise tax threshold) limits.” Senior Health Benefits Consultant We promised yesterday to […]

AFL-CIO Sends Letter Promoting Anti-Tax Campaign

December 9, 2009

The AFL-CIO has sent out an email blast in support of the campaign to overturn the excise tax on health benefits. The letter is addressed to constituents of Rep. Jerrold […]

Excise Tax Could Affect One Out of Every Five Employer Plans

December 8, 2009

Kaiser Health News has summarized some new findings from the Mercer consulting group that are quite compelling. We think they’re so significant they should each be absorbed separately. The first […]

Daily Wrap-Up and Poll: Do We Have Too Much Healthcare In This Country?

December 8, 2009

The following appeared at Daily Kos and elsewhere as a roundup of today’s activities and posts We need to stop the excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans – a […]

Federal Workers Would Be Hard-Hit By the Middle-Class Health Tax

December 8, 2009

A quartet of union leaders was joined on a press conference call today by Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, to present new data which demonstrates that Federal workers covered by […]