Union Workers Have Huge Healthcare Tax Loophole

The employer cost of union worker health care is 2.4 times the employer cost of non-union employees. This is a huge untaxed windfall to union employees and their employers. Employers get to deduct the cost of employee benefits, such as health care, but employees do not pay taxes on value of the benefits.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the average hourly cost for a private sector union employee's health care is $4.20 per hour, and $1.73 per hour for a non-union worker.

The extra employer cost also did not diminish union worker pay. Union workers make about 20 percent more per hour than non-union workers. The average hourly union worker salary and wage is $22.91 per hour versus $18.98 for non-union employees.

Employer share of union health care cost rose 88 percent from 2001-09 versus 66 percent over the same time for non-union worker employers. Private sector union workers are 8.5 percent of the workforce, but account for almost 20 percent of private sector health care employer costs.

Congress should go forward with its proposed tax on 'Cadillac' health plans and tax this inequality in health care benefits.