Tales from the Trail

For car buffs, “Cadillac” and healthcare are probably not a natural mix, even in the context of financing.

For healthcare debaters, “Cadillac” has come to describe high-end insurance plans that either need to be taxed or left alone depending on the viewpoint.

Well, according to several (online) dictionaries, the word Cadillac used in this manner is actually slang.

Cadillac, those dictionaries inform, is the name of the French founder of Detroit — Antoine Laumet de La Mothe Cadillac — after whom the luxury car was named.

Cadillac in the American psyche conjures up a symbol of success and luxury from a time when the long cars roamed the streets without worrying about gasoline prices — so perhaps the word has a bit of an old-fashioned ring now.

But that hasn’t stopped all the buzzing in Washington over the “Cadillac” health insurance plans.

The unions are against taxing the higher-end health insurance plans, others see it as a way to fund healthcare overhaul.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann (vintage Cadillac Eldorado)