Nearly one in 10 employers to drop health coverage

The Washington Times ^ | July 24, 2012 | Paige Winfield Cunningham

[Free ThinkerNY]

About one in 10 employers plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of the new health care law kick in less than two years from now, according to a survey to be released Tuesday by the consulting company Deloitte.

Nine percent of companies said they expect to stop offering coverage to their workers in the next one to three years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Around 81 percent said they would continue providing benefits and 10 percent said they weren't sure.

The companies, though, said a lot will depend on how future provisions of the law unfold, since most of the key parts are scheduled to take effect in 2014. One in three respondents said they could stop offering coverage if the law requires them to provide more generous benefits than they do now, if a tax on high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled or if they decide it would be cheaper for them to pay the penalty for not providing insurance.

While small business don't face fines for failing to offer coverage, companies with 50 or more full time employees face a penalty starting at $2,000 per worker.

[ltc8k6]

The fine for individuals goes up quite a bit by 2016, but it’s still probably way less than insurance premiums will be.

I don’t see where the business penalty increases for 2016. It was $750 per year per employee originally, and now it’s $2k per year per employee.

[listenhillary]

I don’t know. If you can buy insurance only when you get sick and have full coverage. I wouldn’t think any health insurance company would be much of an investment.

I’d buy stock in gun and ammo makers and companies that make drugs for the clinically insane. There’s tar and feathers to consider also.

[ltc8k6]

I can’t wait for the outcry over this:

Effective by January 1, 2013

Income from self-employment and wages of single individuals in excess of $200,000 annually will be subject to an additional tax of 0.9%. The threshold amount is $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly (threshold applies to joint compensation of the two spouses), or $125,000 for a married person filing separately.[74] In addition, an additional Medicare tax of 3.8% will apply to unearned income, specifically the lesser of net investment income or the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 for a married couple filing jointly; $125,000 for a married person filing separately.)[

[cuban leaf]

My goal is to get my “taxable” income to a low enough amount that I’m one of those that pays no tax. ;-)

[Boomer One]

By dropping coverage it will increase pressure for a single source provider, “our beloved government”. Based on how the bill was written, I firmly believe this was the goal of the bill-national healthcare controlled, provided and limited by the government. There will be a scarcity of doctors. A recent poll indicates that 57% of doctors are considering quitting if Obamacare is enforced. Perhaps that’s why conscription of doctors was written into the law. Ask yourself who would want to become a doctor if all doctors are to be paid the same, regardless of specialty and extra years of training, yet remain open targets for lawsuits? Our legislators and Supreme Court have failed to protect us and now we have only the election to fall back on. As I look at our game addicted and lazy youth, growing numbers of those dependent on the government, and special interest groups pushing for one basic thing rather than what is good for the country as a whole, I hold little hope for America unless all conservatives band together to save our economic system and standard of medical care. Save these related issues first, then address lesser issues over time.

[Wolfie]

So what’s the problem? We’ll all get to enjoy the free market in health insurance. It’s a win-win.

[ridesthemiles]

I know a company that had been in business over 50 years.

They dropped health coverage, all right.

They closed the doors for good. Obamacare & it’s unknown qualities was a major factor.

[ziravan]

I plan on dropping my own.

Why pay for car insurance on a monthly basis for years if I can pay after the wreck and they have to cover the wreck at the same premium as everyone else. Just carry coverage for the one month of the wreck, and drop it again after they fix my car.

This is essentially what they’ve done with ObamaTax.

Frankly, there’s no incentive to ever carry health insurance again. The government will pay for it...

My new RobertsTax penalty is going to save me a fortune in premiums. Besides, at that point, RealHealthCare is going to be a cash and carry side private market. Who cares what my employer or some exchange provides?

I’ll save my health dollars for the concierge service that only the intelligentsia can afford. The left knows damn well that under the system they’re trying to build, it only pays to be “The One Percent”.

[steve86]

could also change depending on the next BOD meeting in the spring.

Bury Our Dead?

[Ingtar]

The penalties for businesses are set by one of the Obama appointed committees. Rush was reading off some of their projections a few weeks back.

[Ingtar]

The penalties for businesses are set by one of the Obama appointed committees. Rush was reading off some of their projections a few weeks back.

[newheart]

10 days after the SCOTUS fiasco, I (along with many other people) was laid off from one of the largest health care insurance companies in the country. They went to great pains to avoid saying it was because of Obamacare, but the handwriting had been on the wall for a long time.

Now at age 60, a new “job” will be a little difficult to find. Ironically, the only reason I would be interested in a new job is because of the need for health insurance.

[SierraWasp]

The mandate was to snare the "freeriders."

Government is the real "freerider" in this case and all other cases as well!!!

(continued in my tagline)

[TurboZamboni]

that fine will triple every year...just wait.

[Hulka]

Perhaps. But eve if the fine equals the cost of providing insurance the company wins financially by dropping the insurance coverage and paying the ONE-TIME fine for doing so.

So, the company makes a decision: Either pay yearly for insurance coverage for employees or pay a one-time fine for dropping coverage.

Dropping coverage and forcing everyone into socialized medical “care” is the ultimate goal of The Messiah. Of course, he and his filthy ilk will never have to ensure the nasty rude dirty foul third-world “care” he is forcing on everyone else.