# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

---

- [Podcasts](/podcasts)
- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
- [Video Series](/search/category/video-series)
- [Events](/multimedia/events)

Download:

[ 

Video 

](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/98751bcb-b49b-442e-b69f-620fd1f807b6/4b07c975-6ebc-4579-b90a-beba8486199e/main.mp4) 

[ 

Audio 

](https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5e2e15a046f4465f31c89d8c/1680802227329-90be2ad8893b91c67ee3204669b16aff.mp3) 

Events • March 31, 2023 

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

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.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### 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

[ 

](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

[ 

](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)