WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. House of Representatives leaders are discussing a tax on generous health insurance plans to help pay for healthcare system reforms, sources say.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Friday was pushing her colleagues to bring a healthcare reform bill to the House floor quickly, and unnamed sources "close to the negotiations" told The Wall Street Journal that House leaders were weighing a possible tax on "Cadillac" health plans as an alternative to a controversial surtax on on the wealthy.
Current House plans envision the surtax raising more than $500 billion over 10 years to finance the overhauls, but it is opposed by moderate Democrats.
The House negotiators were seeking ways to pare the cost of the reforms to $900 billion as demanded by President Barack Obama, and Pelosi told reporters no decisions had been made on taxes. But a move to target generous health plans would anger U.S. union members, many of whom have private health plans that would be affected, the Journal said.
The Senate's healthcare bill includes such a provision, imposing a 40 percent tax on insurers offering plans valued at $21,000 for families.
