Originally published October 4 2013
Unintended consequences of Obamacare devastating American jobs and workers
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) I'm not naive enough to believe that politics is anything but a blood sport, but it would be nice to have national media organizations whose editors and reporters remembered that their responsibility, first and foremost, is not to be shills for left-wing statists but to act as watchdogs on government.
For in fulfilling the role that our founders envisioned for a free press, Americans would have been fully apprised of the massively bureaucratic, top-down authoritarianism that is Obamacare. Granted, there were reports of this nature, but all in all, the mainstream of America has no idea - yet - just how broadly this law will control their lives while it drains their pocketbooks.
Per National Review Online:
Ever since its passage, supporters of the law have made countless attempts to convince the American people of its viability, dismissing predictions of lost jobs, decreased hours, and rising costs, among others.
Yet from major corporations to local mom-and-pop shops, from entire states to tiny school districts, a wide range of companies and institutions have seen Obamacare's negative impact on their workers, budgets, and production.
Despite the legion of Obamacare sycophants who continue to lie, mislead and obfuscate regarding the damage this law will do, the evidence is already clear - and mounting - and eventually will become an unstoppable force. Assembled from various sources, including National Review, Investors Business Daily and The Heritage Foundation, here are some of the most egregious examples of Obamacare damage:
IBM -- According to The Hill newspaper, "the computing company is changing its policy to combat rising healthcare costs that would otherwise require larger premiums to keep the plans sustainable. It will affect all retirees once they are eligible for Medicare." The change by the computer giant affected 110,000 of its Medicare-eligible workforce, many of whom fear that, despite receiving subsidies to purchase care through Obamacare exchanges, they will not have access to the same level of coverage.
UPS -- The company has announced that, because of higher insurance premiums due to Obamacare, it will no longer cover 15,000 employees' spouses. In a company memo, UPS said the "costs associated with the Affordable Care Act have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost."
Delta Air Lines -- In a letter sent to employees, the airline announced its health insurance costs are set to rise a staggering $100 million next year alone, leaving the company no alternative but to implement several changes, including dropping its specially crafted insurance plan for pilots, because the "Cadillac tax" on top-rated plans has now made them too expensive.
Sea World -- The Orlando-based aquatic center at one time allowed part-time employees to work as many as 32 hours a week, but because of Obamacare's 30-hour "full-time" threshold, the company is lowering that figure to 28 hours. Some 80 percent of Sea World's employees are either part-time or seasonal.
More unintended (or intended?) consequences include:
Medical device taxes
This tax alone has already cost thousands of jobs, and at a time when the economy, despite what Obama says, is still miserably underperforming.
-- Stryker Corp., a Michigan medical device manufacturer, has already laid off 1,000 workers and could see more cuts because of the 2.3 percent tax, which the company says will cost it $100 million. "Stryker remains significantly concerned with the upcoming medical device excise tax and its negative impact on jobs and innovation and will continue to work with Congress to try to repeal the tax," says the company's CEO.
-- Welch Allyn has said that it is cutting 10 percent of its workforce, about 275 jobs, because of the medical tax. At the same time, it plans to consolidate operations.
-- Smith & Nephew, a British manufacturer, has informed nearly 100 employees at its Massachusetts plant that they will be laid off in order for the company to absorb the Obamacare medical device tax.
There's much more. Read about all of the destruction - so far, anyway - here.
Sources:
http://www.nationalreview.com
http://news.investors.com
http://blog.heritage.org
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