John Hickman Quoted in Health Plan Week

John Hickman was quoted in a Health Plan Week article discussing a proposed 35 percent excise tax on certain employer-sponsored health benefits.  According to Hickman, the cost of other benefits, such as dental and vision coverage, as well as flexible spending and health savings accounts, would likely be added to the items subject to the tax, which purports to go after so-called “gold-plate plans.”  These additions could lead to many more employees who have health coverage through work, and are enrolled in an employer-sponsored self-insured plan, being affected by the new tax.  “If you [look at the numbers] for each type of coverage, the employer is ultimately the entity that has to collect the excise taxes, determine how much it is and reallocate it to either the insurance carrier or to the self-funded plan,” he explained.  “It’s complicated, especially for dual-income working families, and would mean a lot of new administrative work for employers.”