ObamaCare: Companies changing health plans for 2014

President Barack Obama promised Americans that under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, “If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan.” The unfortunate reality is that only a lucky few can keep their health plan. As the new law is implemented, many employees will be left with less...

President Barack Obama promised Americans that under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, “If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan.” The unfortunate reality is that only a lucky few can keep their health plan.

As the new law is implemented, many employees will be left with less generous health benefits – and it will cost them more. And for those who lose coverage and are forced to obtain health insurance on their own, they could be subject to an average insurance premium increase of 50 percent in Illinois. Clearly, this is not what they were promised.

According to a new survey of 420 employers across the country, 40 percent of mid- and large-sized companies will be changing their health plan designs for 2014. In this case, “change” means that these companies will be offering less generous coverage. Under ObamaCare, plans that are worth more than $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage beginning in 2018 will face an excise tax of 40 percent on plans (which will, undoubtedly, be passed on to the employers and workers). Also known as the “Cadillac” tax, opponents to this provision now include some labor unions.

In response to increased costs, many employers will also be dropping spousal coverage or reducing subsidies for that coverage. In addition, 44 percent of employers are planning to drop employer-sponsored coverage for retirees age 65 and older by 2015.

According to the study, “To combat the increase in employee health care costs and avoid the excise tax, nearly 40% of employers will be changing their plan designs for 2014. … Employers will also be focused on reducing coverage subsidies for spouses and dependents, as well as implementing spousal coverage exclusions or spousal premium surcharges when other health coverage is available.”

In addition to this broken promise, attorneys general in thirteen states have expressed serious privacy concerns about the law. Multiple implementation delays, including the requirement that businesses provide health insurance to employees and for health insurance companies to cap out-of-pocket spending for consumers who purchase insurance through the health care exchange, provide additional examples of how ObamaCare fails to deliver on its promised goals.

The fact that many Americans won’t be able to keep their health insurance is just one more reason why ObamaCare should be repealed.