So a key component of Obamacare, the employer mandate, is going to be delayed being implemented until 2015 so that there won’t be this massive blow to the economy the Democrats will get blamed for just before the 2014 election.
I don’t know how you can positively spin this. This awesome Obamacare that everyone is supposed to love is just way too scary to actually go ahead and implement. And you think just delaying it will blunt Republican attacks on it? “Make sure to elect more Republicans, or Obamacare is actually going to be implemented. And it’s obviously going to be awful because Obama himself is scared of it.”
I don’t know what we expected though when we had a bunch of idiots in Congress shove through a massive health care law that none of them read or understood. It’s just taken three years for them to begin to realize how stupid that is and that they’re mantra of, “Eventually, everyone is going to love it!” is not happening. Have you talked to the HR department of businesses these days? No one understands exactly what Obamacare will mean for their business; they just know it’s going to hurt.
Anyway, did you know the president could just unilaterally decide to delay implementing a law? If I’m elected president in 2016, that will be my policy for like every law. Then again, maybe there will be a vote. Perhaps it could be an annual tradition — the annual delaying of Obamacare. It will be a yearly reminder that no matter how bad things are, it could be worse.
This announcement hands Republicans a great opportunity
to fail to use in 2014.
–
If I was the Republican chairman, or Speaker of the House,
I would respond to accusations that “Republican opposition”
is causing the 0-care implementation problems with:
“G.O.P.- Frustrating Would-be Slaveholders Since The 1860’s”
Obamacare supporters are missing an important opportunity here. Those of us who opposed the thing had several reasons, and one was that it would add a costly layer of bureaucracy without necessarily improving efficiency. Well, here’s what team O can do: another costly layer to supervise the Obamacare bureaucracy’s efficiency. And maybe another layer to supervise the efficiency of the efficiency supervision layer. And another to supevise the efficiency of the efficiency supervion supervision…
because of Obamacare my employer-provided health insure rates doubled every year since it was passed. Because of Obamacare not a single employer I’ve worked for or considered working for has offered me health care insurance. Because of Obamacare I now have to buy my own individual policy that not only costs far more than the most expensive coverage I ever had to pay for but is not tax deductible or payable with pre tax dollars as my old policies were.
Also because as long as you’re avoiding benefits its no more effort to also avoid 401k matching, vacation, sick days, holliday pay, bonuses, and annual cost of living increases companies are skimping on those too.
how do you spin that?
Hey Frankj! Have you picked a running mate yet. If not, I would like to apply because I don’t want to do anything either. You wouldn’t even have to remodel that Naval Observatory for me. I think it would be cool to live in a house that had one clock that was showing the correct time.
As far as the ACA Delay Day goes, I would propose it be a National Holiday in August. That way you could get the support of the Labor Unions because there aren’t any other National Holidays in August and they do love their paid holidays.
oh…almost forgot. Because we’re now on an individual policy, pregnancy is considered a “pre-existing condition”. That means if my wife got pregnant the wouldn’t be able to get coverage, and if she got pregnant after getting coverage the insurance company could drop her…unless of course she wanted to abort. Abortion and birth control services are provided for free.
this isn’t some hole-in-the-wall cut rate insurance….these a big national companies.
anything is “constitutional” if they get away with it.
Blarg @4: Consult your CPA or tax adviser, but I don’t know why you can’t take your insurance off your taxes–IF you file Schedule A AND IF you meet the medical expense minimum (the “floor” percentage) OR IF you’re self-employed. The conditions are the start of a really good advertisement for tax reform.
@5: I thought the pre-existing condition thing was part of the ‘care that had been implemented (last year)? And ouch; my wife and I got bit by that one several years ago; she could have gotten coverage, but maternity coverage was excluded for something like the first 18 months.
@CCO
I know, but it has to exceed 7.5% of your income. Because I’m a highly skilled professional with a highly valuable skillset the premiums fall below the 7.5% mark of my income…which is even more maddening because the “overhead” for my benefits are really not as significant a portion of my income as they would be for a lower paid employee…it’s just standard practice now to avoid benefits if possible. Also, because many of these companies pay on a W2 and call you a “consultant”, I’m not considered self-employed.
The difference between itemizing and taking the standard deduction for my family was negligible and not worth the extra paperwork…in retrospect it was probably also for the best for someone with my political views to not attract unnecessary IRS attention.
At least I now have the luxury of only accepting work in states that have no state income tax and recognize my CCW permit.
@8–sounds like you do your own taxes; what software do you use? The company whose software I’ve been using seems to show signs of resting on their laurels.