Originally Posted by Flying Elvis

ACA ("Obamacare") Tax Easter Egg, in case you missed it:

In 2018, the ACA institutes a 40% excise tax, sometimes called the "Cadillac tax," on any employer contributions towards healthcare which exceed certain thresholds.

The TA allows the company, in order to avoid paying this tax, to reduce its contributions and pay the difference directly to the pilots. So, you'd theoretically get the dollars in your paycheck to pay the increased premiums, deductibles, and copays.

Sounds OK, right? Not so fast.

That difference gets into your paycheck as normal income. That means it's taxed. So, instead of the company paying taxes on those dollars, you will - and depending where you sit in the tax brackets, it might be roughly the same amount.

This keeps getting better and better.