Some of Hillary Clinton’s top advisers advocated for a repeal of the controversial “Cadillac Tax” on high-cost health plans in Obamacare, but clashed over whether it was worth it since it wouldn’t distract from the email scandal, according to emails posted Sunday by WikiLeaks.
The emails were part of the latest batch illegally taken from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The emails on the tax date back to September 2015, and revolve around Clinton campaign staffers wondering how to thread the needle on the controversial tax, which has gotten opposition from both sides of the aisle.
Clinton issued a statement on Sept. 29 calling for Congress to repeal the tax.
“I vote for repeal!” said Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook in one email just days earlier, dated Sept. 26.
Others questioned whether Clinton should come out against the tax, but not for plans that cost $250,000 or above.
Clinton’s communication’s director Jennifer Palmieri wondered whether it was worth the effort to bring the tax up.
“It doesn’t pass the bar of news that would break through e-mails,” said Palmieri, which seems to reference the controversy over Clinton’s illicit use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. “So I don’t know that it is worth the effort,” Palmieri added.
Podesta said that he was more worried about whether “we will pay a huge price with the [White House] on this one.”
The Cadillac Tax is a tax on healthcare plans that cost $40,000 or more. It was designed to control healthcare costs by forcing employers to curb pricey health plans to avoid the tax.
But it has garnered widespread opposition from not only businesses, but also pro-Democratic constituencies such as unions. Last year, Congress agreed to a one-year delay to implementing the tax.
Clinton staffers discussed whether she should come out against the tax or a slimmed down version of it.
“The idea is to go back to her 2008 position, which was that we should not be subsidizing higher earners on their health plans,” said Ann O’Leary, one of Clinton’s senior policy advisers.
O’Leary said that it may be “cleaner just to go for repeal. The problem is that there are a number of people who think that is a step too far.”
The Clinton campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
