One major concern of Obamacare is its huge incentive for businesses to dump employer-sponsored coverage. Recently, the Obama Administration acknowledged that this is likely, though it did so in an attempt to portray it as a positive outcome of its signature legislation. In reality, Americans will experience severe consequences if this effect of the new law comes to fruition. Under Obamacare, those without government-qualified employer-sponsored insurance will be able to purchase insurance in the new exchanges. The new law creates generous subsidies to make coverage more affordable for low- and …
Imagine that one day, your boss takes you out to coffee. You offer to pick up the tip as a contribution. The two of you head down the street and are faced with quite the conundrum: two coffee shops to choose from! Both offer a delicious cup of joe for the same price, but in front of one, a benevolent gentleman who calls himself Uncle Sam (weird, right?) offers you a coupon for 50 percent off, so both you and your boss will save. Which coffee shop do you think …
“I’ve been working to dismantle Obamacare,” declared Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). “We have to fight this terrible law that’s a threat to liberty itself.” These comments came during a June 21st blogger conference call held by Sen. Hatch in which he sought to rally support for two bills aimed at representing “a strategic attack on the central tenants of Obamacare.” The American Liberty Restoration Act (S. 3502) would strike forthcoming individual mandates from the current law, while the American Job Protection Act (S.3501) would repeal what Hatch calls, a “job-killing …
Small businesses will bear a significant burden under Obamacare. New regulations, mandates, taxes and numerous costs will impact how companies operate. The National Federation of Independent Business counted all of these new requirements and came up with 25 ways the new health care law changes life for business owners over the next 10 years. Its video puts some perspective on what’s to come in the years ahead. Earlier this week Heritage’s John Ligon revealed four ways Obamacare penalizes small businesses: higher health care costs, an ineffective small business tax credit, …
A jubilant President Obama put his signature on health care legislation yesterday, but the work isn’t done quite yet. The U.S. Senate must pass the Reconciliation Act of 2010, making a number of tax changes to current law. By signing the legislation, Obama already broke his campaign promise not to raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year. The reconciliation bill adds even more taxes for Americans — an estimated $52.3 billion over 10 years, according to a new analysis from Americans for Tax Reform. ATR’s Ryan …
Proponents of the health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress claim that the cost of insuring the uninsured will be paid for by taxes on the rich, and by employers, who will be required to shoulder “responsibility” for their employee’s health insurance. The reality is that these provisions will act as an extremely regressive tax on the working poor, substantially reducing their take-home pay and in some cases eliminating their jobs altogether. All the House and Senate drafts of health care reform include so-called “employer mandates” or “pay …
Senator Baucus’ latest attempt to reach a bi-partisan agreement still misses the mark. While there may be a few elements that may be worth discussing, the vast majority of the proposal continues to take the discussion over reform in the wrong direction. Many of the same fundamental problems plague this proposal as the other proposals in Congress. Centralizes power in Washington and adds new layers of federal bureaucracy. The entire bill is based on creating new federal authority over the regulation and delivery of health care. This not only pre-empts …
Heritage consultant Mark Wilson published a new study Friday, detailing how the “play-or-pay” employer mandates in H.R. 3200 will put 5.2 million low-wage workers at risk of unemployment or reduced working hours. Fox News covered the story: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6GCuhXQPyY[/youtube] Also from the report: The mandates will cost businesses at least $49 billion per year. Another 10.2 million workers would be at risk of slower wage growth and cuts in other benefits. The mandate will cause 9 million mostly low-wage and part-time workers to lose their employment-based health insurance.
Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama repeatedly promised the American people: “If you’re a family that’s making $250,000 a year or less you will see no increase in your taxes. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your personal gains tax, not any of your taxes.” Just 15 days into office, President Obama signed a bill expanding the children’s health insurance program that was paid for with a 156% tax hike on tobacco. Since slightly more than half of today’s smokers (53%) earn less than $36,000 per year, …
On June 15th, the Congressional Budget Office issued a crushing blow to President Barack Obama’s health care plan, placing a $1 trillion price tag on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee’s draft legislation. And what did Americans get for their $1 trillion in new debt? A measly16 million net decrease in the number of people uninsured. Liberals in Washington decried the CBO’s findings, complaining that they had scored an incomplete version of the bill. So this past Friday, the CBO released a fuller scoring of HELP’s legislation, …
