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Companies want to kill it. Unions hate it. Republicans want to eliminate it. Some Democrats agree. We're talking about the much-reviled Obamacare Cadillac tax, which is set to levy a hefty 40% excise tax on employer health plans that are considered generous. (Luhby, 12/19)

Congress is nearing a vote on a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the government into next fall. It includes the biggest changes so far to one of Congressional Republicans' top legislative targets over the last half-dozen years: Obamacare. (Gorenstein, 12/17)

A set of delays on Obamacare-related taxes in the new federal spending bill will give corporate earnings a modest boost but are unlikely to undo the law or produce significant changes in the health-care industry. Medical-device companies such as Medtronic Plc, health insurers like UnitedHealth Group Inc., and big employers across the U.S. have been preparing for years for a slate of new taxes under the Affordable Care Act. They’ll find it easier just to collect extra profit from a tax cut rather than undo those changes, such as job reductions and revamped health benefit plans. (Cortez and Tracer, 12/16)

Businesses have been adjusting their benefits plans for several years now, to ease in changes that will help them avoid the tax. They’ve been raising deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses for workers. Many also are adding surcharges on the coverage of spouses who can get benefits elsewhere. (Murphy, 12/17)