Excise Tax Would Have 'Devastating' Impact, CWA, Allies Warn Senate

"Drop the tax on workers' health care benefits." That's the non-stop message from CWA and allies to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and members of the Senate who are considering a tax on health care plans.

CWA President Larry Cohen and Qwest CEO Edward Mueller wrote to the 28 senators in the 14-state Qwest territory, including Leader Reid, pointing out how middle income and working Americans would be hit hard by the tax.  

For the 150,000 employees, retirees and dependents at Qwest, the tax would be devastating, said Cohen and Mueller. "An individual worker would have to pay an additional $1,950 annually and a family would have to pay a staggering $5,200 a year," they wrote. "By 2023, the tax would ratchet up to approximately $44 million on CWA-Qwest health care plans," they said. Cohen and Mueller said Qwest's plans "should not be penalized because they are covering older workers who incur more health care costs." Click here to read the letter.

Cohen and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger wrote to the Senate on behalf of the 2.5 million active and retired members represented by the unions. "Rather than curbing plans with overly rich benefits, the excise tax would mostly have a discriminatory impact on plans that happen to cover older workers and retirees, or workers in high-cost and high-risk occupations," they said. Click here to read the letter.

In a separate letter to Leader Reid, CWA's Cohen and the presidents of four unions, representing more than 5 million workers warned that "if this tax were implemented, employers would more likely cut benefits to reduce their costs." The tax would have a "devastating impact on exactly the type of good, comprehensive health care plans reform should be promoting." Joining Cohen were Presidents Joseph T. Hansen, Food and Commercial Workers; James P. Hoffa, Teamsters; Dennis Van Roekel, National Education Association; and Frederic V. Rolando, Letter Carriers. Click here to read the letter.