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ARTICLE · 05 JANUARY 2016

Provisions In Appropriations Act Affecting Employee Benefit Plans

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The $1.8 trillion, 887-page spending bill enacted by Congress this month, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (the Appropriations Act), became law on Dec. 18, 2015.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Larry Goldstein
Larry Goldstein

The $1.8 trillion, 887-page spending bill enacted by Congress this month, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (the Appropriations Act), became law on Dec. 18, 2015. Below is a summary of the principal provisions of the Appropriations Act affecting employee benefit plans.

Changes to the "Cadillac" Tax

One of the funding mechanisms in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its companion statute, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (referred to collectively as the ACA), is a 40 percent excise tax, the so-called "Cadillac" tax, on the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage provided to an employee that exceeds a statutory dollar limit.

In part as the result of intensive lobbying by both business and labor groups, and with bipartisan support, the Appropriations Act made the following changes to this tax:

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