Health Insurance Tax Benefit

The cost of health insurance coverage has consistently increased year after year. Under current law, employers are incentivized to offer employer-sponsored health coverage with tax benefits and, if they have at least 50 employees, are required to provide affordable health coverage or pay a penalty. Some commenters have called for changing this system to transfer the tax benefits of purchasing health insurance coverage from the employer to the employee.

We asked two professors and authors of ALM’s Tax Facts with opposing political viewpoints to share their opinions about whether the tax advantages associated with purchasing health coverage should be transferred from employers to employees.

Below is a summary of the debate that ensued between the two professors.