Not likely to ever happen. But the fact that it was even brought up is simply astonishing: The administration plans to push major amendments that would shield interest, dividends and capitals gains from taxation, expand tax breaks for business investment and take other steps intended to simplify the system and encourage economic growth... To pay for them, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance.
I can only imagine that they floated this extreme idea to make their true future proposal look more moderate. It just doesn't make any sense. The total package is so slanted towards the rich and against the poor in such basic ways that even poor religious conservatives may question their support for Republicans. Plus, true healthcare reform is more likely to come when companies become tired of the current employer-sponsored healthcare system. Removing the deductions for healthcare costs would just accelerate that timetable. The day Corporate America decides it doesn't want to pay for healthcare anymore will be the day that universal healthcare becomes a reality in the US. A part of my job involves meeting with large companies and explaining the reasons for their increasing healthcare costs and what to do about it. And each year the angst and grief we get from our clients gets worse and worse. They are increasingly looking for a way out from under that burden and this tax reform proposal could be the tipping point. In a weird way, the GOP could, unwittingly, do more to advance universal healthcare than the Dems have been able to acheive over the years.