Employers start slashing jobs ahead of Obamacare implementation

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Obamacare implementation, unemployment, work hours

(NaturalNews) As we have reported regularly here at Natural News, Obamacare - which takes effect in its entirety January 1 - is going to be a mega-disaster for Americans. The law will create long lines at doctor's offices; it will create - and then worsen - a shortage of primary care physicians and providers; it will not control costs, as advertised; it will cause insurance rates to go up (which is already happening); and - perhaps most important - it will even worsen unemployment and underemployment in America.

Per the Washington Post's Ed Rogers:

Right now, small businesses across America are making the final determinations on how to reduce the working hours of their employees so fewer employees qualify for the mandated, employer-provided health insurance. Employers are also deciding whether it makes more economic sense to pay a fine to the government or pay for healthcare benefits for their employees. What this means is that hundreds of thousands - and perhaps even millions - of Americans will learn that they are being dismissed from their employer's healthcare coverage.

'No one is talking'

Rogers, along with other writers, analysts and policy experts, say the coming tsunami of "healthcare pink slips" are most likely coming by late summer/early fall. When that happens, many Americans will be shoved into healthcare exchanges established by the law and will - for the first time - have to start writing a check for their health insurance (especially younger, healthier Americans). And that will reduce take-home pay, which means "the negative effects on personal income and the overall economy will be undeniable," Rogers writes.

"Sometime next year, before the elections, the penalties associated with not having or providing health insurance will begin to pour in. Will the fines come in the mail? Will you be able to appeal? What happens if someone doesn't pay? No one knows. Or, no one who knows is talking. The consequences of ObamaCare are being hidden," he says.

It should be noted that this is what happens when one party or the other controls the lawmaking branches of power (the Legislative and Executive branches) - often we get bad law. During President Bush's first term, in response to the 9/11 attacks, dominant Republicans passed the USA Patriot Act, the impetus of which has been responsible for the NSA's sustained spying on Americans during the Obama administration.

As far as Obamacare goes, Democrats own it; where once they sang its praises as a "reform measure" that would make healthcare cheaper and more accessible, now - as the news about its eventual roll-out gets worse - they are being silent about its coming consequences.

As far as hurting employment, a recent poll of small business owners found that the law is already affecting hiring. Note that under the law, almost all companies with 50 or more full-time employees will have to either offer health coverage or face a fine of $2,000 per full-timer after the first 30 workers.

'There is no chance Obamacare will perform as promised'

"We were startled because we know that employers were concerned about the Affordable Care Act and the effects it would have on their business, but we didn't realize the extent they were concerned, or that the businesses were being proactive to make sure the effects of the ACA actually were minimized," attorney Steven Friedman of Littler Mendelson, which commissioned a Gallup poll to measure the effect of the law on employment, told CNBC.

"If the small businesses' fears are reasonable, then it could mean that the small business sector grows slower than what economic conditions otherwise would indicate. And small businesses have been a growth engine in the economy," he said.

According to the survey, 41 percent of businesses questioned said they had frozen hiring for the time being because of uncertainty over the affects of Obamacare; about one-fifth, or 19 percent, said "yes" when asked if they had "reduced the number of employees you have in your business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act."

And 38 percent said they had scaled back growing their companies in the coming year because of Obamacare.

"Some of the Democrats' reactions will be predictable, i.e. blaming Bush and blaming Republicans, or for a while, denying the obvious. But that won't work forever," writes Rogers. "One of the worst sins you can commit in politics is to say something that's different from what people can see for themselves. There is no chance that Obamacare will perform as promised and when it doesn't, voters will be looking for relief."

Update: Many readers may already know that the president has decided to delay the so-called "employer mandate" for a year - a move most political observers say is due to the fact that Obama doesn't want fellow Democrats running for reelection to have to deal with Obamacare's fall-out during the 2014 midterm elections.

But business owners aren't stupid. They know the mandate is likely to return after the elections, so they're not going to be anxious to fill positions and expand their operations regardless of the one-year delay. They know that, eventually, they will have to deal with the employer mandate.

So, unless the mandate goes away altogether, don't expect to see massive hiring and improved job growth for full-time employment anytime soon.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.cnbc.com

http://www.naturalnews.com