Policy Forum 

# Should Congress End the Tax Exclusion for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance? 

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Date and Time 

March 31, 2023 1 - 2 PM EDT 

Location 

Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 

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##### Featuring 

[![Michael F. Cannon](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Michael%20Cannon.jpg?itok=0UROn8Dc)](/people/michael-f-cannon) 

[Michael F. Cannon](/people/michael-f-cannon)

Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/mfcannon) [ 

](mailto:mcannon@cato.org) 

![Amy Finkelstein copped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-03/amy-finkelstein.jpeg?itok=6UoYMnP3) 

Amy Finkelstein 

John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics, MIT

![Jason Furman headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-08/Jason-Furman.png?itok=npyU--o9) 

Jason Furman 

Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

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](https://twitter.com/jasonfurman) 

![Richard Hinz cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-03/richard_hinz-cropped.jpg?itok=uN3-rmax) 

Richard Hinz 

Senior Advisor, American Benefits Council

![b-Blase-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-08/b-Blase-cropped.jpg?itok=o_iIGmGJ) 

Brian Blase 

President, Paragon Health Institute

[ 

](https://twitter.com/brian_blase) 

For longer than modern health insurance has existed—and nearly as long as there has been a federal income tax—the federal tax code has treated employee health benefits differently from cash compensation. Cash compensation is subject to income and payroll taxes. When employers instead pay workers with health insurance, that compensation avoids both types of tax.

Economists have argued for decades that Congress should limit or eliminate the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance. They argue that the exclusion distorts labor and health care markets, such as by increasing medical prices and health insurance premiums. Some say the exclusion is the single most harmful federal intervention in health care. Others say it is simply a tax cut that benefits workers by making health care coverage more accessible.

Please join our panel of experts to explore the impact of the tax exclusion and whether Congress should reform or end it.

**Lunch will be served at 12:30 PM.**

![pa928-cover.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2022-05/pa928-cover.jpg?itok=BMfkhwSA) 

##### Featured Study 

### [End the Tax Exclusion for Employer‐​Sponsored Health Insurance](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/end-tax-exclusion-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-return-1-trillion-workers-who)

The “tax exclusion” for employer‐​sponsored health insurance shields workers from paying income or payroll taxes on such benefits. The exclusion is an accident of history that predates modern health insurance and is roughly as old as the income tax itself. It fuels excessive health insurance coverage, medical spending, and health care prices and ties health insurance to employment. It has required Congress to intervene countless times to address problems it creates.

[Read the Study](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/end-tax-exclusion-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-return-1-trillion-workers-who) 

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