Via Dan Collins (buy his book) Dennis the Peasant gets to the heart of the problem:
And because Obamacare incentivizes non-coverage by imposing employer fines for non-coverage that are far less than the cost of offering health insurance, there’s an excellent chance (in this economy of roughly 17%-18% actual unemployment) that companies will be dropping health benefits rather than adding them. Employers can afford to; they have highly skilled workers waiting in line to beg for a job with or without health insurance.
Remember it is a lot cheaper to pay the fine than to actually cover the employee, so who is going to have to pay that cost? Back to Dennis:
Next year you’re going to have to purchase the insurance yourself or pay a large fine and face the possibility of prosecution and imprisonment.
So the end result thousands of dollars spent by people on health insurance that will not be spent on other things, like vacations, or restaurants, or that x-box 360 or COLLEGE or the MORTGAGE. Since it is Dennis’ piece I’ll give him the last word:
Ignore the above at your own risk, Democrats. I’ve been dealing with people and their money on a professional basis for over 25 years. The fastest way to enrage the average American is to try to force them to reduce their standard of living. People will lie, cheat, steal, and kill to continue to live in the manner to which they are accustomed. That’s just the way it is. And that is the fatal flaw in The Plan… When it comes down to it, the political will to force the electorate to be poorer will not be there.
I wish I wrote that.
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