Are pretax healthcare benefits for employees a thing of the past? Could Obama have a union fight on his hands? According to various news sources today, the president is considering taxing some employee healthcare benefits to help pay for his healthcare delivery overhaul. Just last year on the campaign trail, then-presidential candidate Obama criticized his opponent Sen. John McCain for doing the exact same thing (albeit, McCain was essentially campaigning on taxing all employee health benefits). 

Favoring this change in Obama’s tone, those who want to tax benefits in whole or in part make two main arguments. They say the tax exclusion is a generous subsidy that insulates employees from the true costs of health care, leading them to demand more of it and driving up overall costs. Critics also say the policy is unfair because it favors higher-income people. | LINK

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