In the U.S., most people get their health insurance through their employers because... well, because the government wants it that way. 

During World War II, American industry needed workers to meet the industrial needs caused by a gigantic war.  That demand for workers resulted in enormous wage inflation and the government decided to stop that by putting compensation caps into place.  Remember that next time somebody tells you that the government can't interfere with the markets by, say, regulating drug prices.  When it came to wages for ordinary people, the government interfered in the markets without much regret.

Since businesses couldn't incentivize workers by paying what was demanded, the government allowed tax breaks for fringe benefits, including health care.  After World War II, that system endured and it eventually took over.

Smart unions and executives took advantage of this and negotiated better deals for themselves and their members.  Because the government decided to subsidize employer-based health care but not wages, health plans are an attractive compensation tool.  The very best of these plans, enjoyed now by the few remaining workers with strong unions and people with executive jobs. are called "Cadillac plans."  President Obama's health reforms imposes taxes those plans, claiming that they are excessive and wasteful.  More on that later.

Over the years, people on the right and left have suggested that the government should end the subsidy, as it distorts both the labor market and the insurance market.  I could be persuaded of that case but only if the government were to take over the health system and provide Cadillac plans to every citizen.

 Absent that, the Cadillac tax should be repealed. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, the influential policy hand behind this tax, argues:

"By covering more services, offering more choices and lowering the costs people experience, expensive plans encourage people to use more health care services and, when there are options, more expensive services."

On the bizarre planet where Emanuel lives, people apparently use health care services for fun.  His argument would certainly make sense if the government were giving people tax incentives to buy smart phones. To the extent that people use health care services they generally feel they need it or are instructed by a doctor that they need it.  But, but, but, says Emanuel, some people misuse emergency rooms or decide to visit a specialist when a general practitioner will do!  But the emergency room problem is generally caused by people with little or no insurance, not people with great insurance. As for whether a patient decides to visit their cardiologist or their GP to get their blood pressure medication adjusted (an example Emanuel uses), I'd leave that up to the patient and doctors.  I'm willing to bet, though, that people aren't seeking out a cardiologist for such matters, they are simply seeing the cardiologist anyway and getting that done while they're there.  Would Emanuel prefer they visit two doctors when one would do?

Really, the only problem I can find with Cadillac plans is that they aren't available to everybody.  But that's really the government's fault as it could have supplied such services from the very start.  Instead, the government created a subsidy and encouraged unions and individuals to negotiate for the best deals.  Why change the rules to penalize the winners now?