Benefits vs. Jobs
Friday, July 10 2009
I have my own reasons for being opposed to the tax exemption for health benefits – namely, it doesn’t help me at all – but here is another argument against the exemption that I think deserves some consideration:
In the long run, capping the amount of health insurance that employers can provide tax-free would raise workers’ wages, partially protect them from layoffs and speed rehiring after a downturn.
That’s from Leonard Berman, in a Washington Post op-ed published yesterday. It’s worth reading the whole thing, if only to better understand how the tax exemption distorts the labor market more broadly.
