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FEDERALhearing transcript

High Impact

Congressional Hearing on Tax Treatment of Health Care

Original title: TAX TREATMENT OF HEALTH CARE

January 1, 2017

health care tax policy employer-sponsored insurance tax reform health insurance

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The Frame

What this does

The committee is evaluating potential changes to the tax-free status of employer-provided health insurance, which currently affects the coverage and tax liability of over 150 million Americans.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Employees with employer-sponsored insurance

Any changes to the tax treatment of employer-provided health benefits could alter their taxable income or the structure of their insurance coverage.

Employers

Changes to tax incentives for health insurance could impact how businesses structure compensation and benefits packages for their workforce.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2017.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing to discuss reforming how the federal tax code handles health care costs. The committee examined the '' tax break and explored ways to make health insurance benefits more flexible and portable for workers.

Why It Matters

The committee is evaluating potential changes to the tax-free status of employer-provided health insurance, which currently affects the coverage and tax liability of over 150 million Americans.

Key Facts

The hearing focused on the 'employer exclusion,' a tax provision that allows employer-provided health insurance to be excluded from an employee's taxable income.
Over 150 million Americans under age 65 currently receive health insurance through their employer.
The committee is exploring proposals to create a new tax credit for health care.
The committee is investigating ways to make health insurance 'portable,' allowing coverage to remain with the individual when changing jobs or starting a business.
The current tax code contains over a dozen health-related tax expenditures.
The hearing took place on April 14, 2016, during 'Tax Week'.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 'employer exclusion'?

It is a tax rule that allows the value of health insurance provided by an employer to be excluded from an employee's taxable income.

Why is the committee looking at this?

The committee is exploring ways to modernize the tax code to make health insurance more flexible, portable, and accessible for Americans who want more choices than their employer currently provides.

News Coverage

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Lobbying Activity

HITTLE STRATEGIES, LLC

on behalf of PARTNERSHIP FOR EMPLOYER SPONSORED COVERAGE

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Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Focus on Portability

The hearing highlights a clear legislative interest in decoupling health insurance from employment to increase labor market mobility.

House Committee on Ways and Means

Connected Entities

organizationHouse Committee on Ways and Means“Congressional committee overseeing tax policy”Map →

personAvik Roy“Witness, Manhattan Institute”Map →

personJoseph Antos“Witness, American Enterprise Institute”Map →

personKevin Brady“Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means”Map →

personSteven Kreisberg“Witness, AFSCME”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance80
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy50
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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