As Democratic Sen. Max Baucus told HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the ObamaCare train wreck is coming. The LA Times reports on plans by businesses — and the City of Long Beach — to limit worker hours in order to avoid ObamaCare requirements.
Consider the city of Long Beach. It is limiting most of its 1,600 part-time employees to fewer than 27 hours a week, on average. City officials say that without cutting payroll hours, new health benefits would cost up to $2 million more next year, and that extra expense would trigger layoffs and cutbacks in city services.
I don’t think we’ll have to wait long before the predictable cry for tax hikes.
And then there’s this.
Some California lawmakers worry that the federal penalties for not providing health coverage aren’t enough of a deterrent. They have proposed additional state fines to prevent major retailers, restaurant chains and other employers from restricting hours and dumping more of their workers onto public programs such as Medi-Cal. Opponents say the proposal is unnecessary and could deter companies from adding workers.
This all could have been avoided, of course, by rejecting ObamaCare and infusing the health insurance market with competition and options. Under that model, those who wish to buy policies that cover everything from a hang nail to abortion could do so. Those who wish to buy a policy that covers hospitalization and/or disease could do so. Those who wish to buy a policy that covers a menu of specific items could do so. Instead, we are careening toward the train wreck that is ObamaCare.
