Getty Hillary Clinton: Kill Obama's 'Cadillac tax' Her statement is a break from the Obama administration on health care.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton today called for scrapping the Affordable Care Act’s so-called Cadillac tax on pricey health care benefits.

In what amounts to a major break with the Obama administration, Clinton said the tax ought to be junked while promising to replace the estimated $91 billion hole that would blow in the government’s budget.


“I encourage Congress to repeal the so-called Cadillac tax,” she said today in a statement. “My proposed reforms to our health care system would more than cover the cost of repealing the Cadillac tax, while also reining in skyrocketing prescription drug costs and out-of-pocket expenses for hard-working families. As president, I will continue to fight to make our health care system more value-driven and cost-efficient, and to drive down costs for patients and families.”

It marks the first time Clinton has proposed nixing part of the health care law, and it makes her the most prominent Democrat on a growing list of lawmakers opposed to the tax.

Clinton had previously expressed concerns with the tax, in a questionnaire this summer with the American Federation of Teachers, while stopping short of advocating its repeal.

The levy, one of Obamacare’s most important cost-saving provisions, has been long sought by experts who call it key to slowing the growth of health care costs. But it’s proving to be one of the program’s most controversial components, and anathema to scores of unions, including AFT, that are major players in Democratic presidential primaries. AFT endorsed Clinton earlier this summer.

The 40 percent excise tax, set to begin in 2018, applies to health care benefits worth more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. It's indexed to a relatively slow measure of inflation, so it's projected to hit a growing share of health plans.

Rival Bernie Sanders has already come out against the tax, and he is backing legislation introduced last week by a number of Senate Democrats, including New York’s Chuck Schumer, that would rescind the levy.

House Republicans, meanwhile, are preparing to also vote to delete the tax as part of a broader measure aimed at dismantling Obamacare.

"We are proud that Hillary Clinton has come out in favor of a repeal of the so-called Cadillac tax — a harmful tax on health benefits that is hurting America's working families," AFT President Randi Weingarten said. "Hillary has proven again that she is a champion for working people."

Said Republican National Committee Spokeswoman Allison Moore: “Only politicians with a trust deficit as big as Hillary Clinton’s could say in the same statement that ObamaCare ‘is working, plain and simple’ and that part of it should be repealed. It’s no secret Hillary Clinton is trying to have it both ways on this failed law because she is under pressure from union bosses.”