Posted by Tina
Obamacare was designed to unfold so that the public wouldn’t be slammed all at once. Some of the taxes were delayed so that CBO scoring would be deceptively positive in the beginning, for insance. Since it’s inception the President has also given waivers and delayed full implementation. Small Businesses, under 50 employees, were grandfathered. They could keep their current insurance, modified slightly, until the renewal period in 2015. That day has arrived and small businesses all over the country are finding out that their insurance choices are nothing short of a nightmare. Small businesses in Santa Cruz, CA just got the bad news:
The owners of the Sockshop & Shoe Co. face a stunning 85 percent increase in the cost of their group health insurance plan for their employees.
“When you’re doubling the cost, it’s threatening,” said Eric Gil, co-owner with his wife Ellen of the longtime downtown business.
Ellen, with 2016 quotes from the insurance agent in hand, said, “One choice is the nuclear option — don’t offer insurance.”
Other businesses face similar increases. “Davis found the least expensive choice — costing 24 percent more — was a plan with a $6,000 deductible, meaning employees would pay $6,000 out of pocket plus premiums.”
Small businesses already faced a forced increase in expenses when California decided to increase the minimum wage. This insurance increase could become the final blow that makes it too difficult for some to stay in business. It will most assuredly translate to lost jobs if that’s what it takes to hold costs down. One other option is dropping group insurance. An Insurance agent in the Santa Cruz area has suggested the option of dropping insurance and giving employees a small cost of living raise to help them cover the cost for a new individual plan. This won’t be much help when deductibles and co-pays are high and if insurance premiums continue to rise it won’t help at all in the long run.
The plan all along has been to force people in the direction of universal coverage. When the government becomes a competitor to small business, heck, to business in general, who do you think is going to win? And who do you think will be the biggest losers?
Yesterday I wrote about government power being abused in the Catherine Engelbrecht case. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is just another form of abuse by our government.