Graduation Year

Fall 2012

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Government

Reader 1

Frederick Lynch

Rights Information

© 2012 Kathryn Lorish

Abstract

On March 23rd 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, setting in motion the most comprehensive health reform in the United States since 1965. Among many provisions within the near-3,000-page law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) amends the Internal Revenue Code to include an excise tax on high cost employer-provided health plans. Starting in 2018, the new provision will levy a 40 percent tax on every dollar of health benefits received in excess of $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. This provision alters tax policy dating back to 1954, and will significantly change employer-sponsored insurance in the United States.This thesis will analyze how the ACA came to include the excise tax for high cost health insurance, and discuss the political forces motivating this decision.

This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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