Sam Stein
Huffington Post
1/7/2010
President Barack Obama is planning to meet with union leaders in the next few days in order to address their opposition to a proposed tax on high-cost health care plans, multiple sources tell the Huffington Post.
The administration recently indicated that it supports including a tax on so-called Cadillac health care insurance plans as part of final health care negotiations between the House and the Senate. The proposal, while believed to be extremely important in getting health care costs under control, is deeply unpopular in the labor community. Many union members are enrolled under those plans — having given up salary increases to get the additional health care benefits. Now, they stand to have those benefits taxed.
Hoping to get the excise tax dropped in negotiations, several unions launched a public campaign against the proposal. Included in the effort were implicit vows to not support (though also not oppose) the final bill if the tax is included.
In light of the discontent, the White House reached out to labor leaders, asking to set up a meeting to go over some of the policy and political concerns.
This article continues at The Huffington Post.
