The idea behind this, which seems to have eluded the MSNBC gasbrain that wrote the article, is to put employer-provided health insurance on the same tax basis as individually-purchased insurance, encouraging more diversity and choice for insurance consumers. The tax breaks on employer-provided insurance, combined with no tax breaks on individual policies, is a major reason we're stuck in the employer-provided insurance trap to begin with.

Of course, I think the best way to do this is to make BOTH tax deductible. I can deduct individually-purchased insurance as a self-employed person, and this should be a choice available to anyone.

Since the proposed changes begin in 2018, I'm not sure there's a lot of reason to sweat them just yet.

Something has to be done to deal with the Infinite Gravy Train approach to government spending, or we're going to end up like Europe. Which, like the U.S., also has their unions to thank for much of the hole they're in.