Big Labor may get ObamaCare subsidies intended for the uninsured

The media is swirling with rumors that the Obama administration is considering subsidizing health premiums for Big Labor members who already have insurance – using funds intended for uninsured, low-income Americans. If true, this will be yet another example of the Obama administration giving preferential treatment to special interests while subjugating individual Americans to the high costs and destructive effects of...

The media is swirling with rumors that the Obama administration is considering subsidizing health premiums for Big Labor members who already have insurance – using funds intended for uninsured, low-income Americans. If true, this will be yet another example of the Obama administration giving preferential treatment to special interests while subjugating individual Americans to the high costs and destructive effects of ObamaCare.

Labor bosses have been complaining for months about the detrimental effects the law will have on rank-and-file workers. According to The Wall Street Journal:

“Union leaders have been complaining since last year that many of the law’s requirements will drive up costs for union-sponsored health-care plans managed jointly by unions and mostly small employers. The plans are used heavily in industries such as construction, trucking and hotels, where workers’ hours fluctuate.

“Union officials have repeatedly told the administration that the higher costs of these multiemployer plans could make it less appealing for employers to hire union workers or prompt them to drop the coverage altogether. The plans cover more than 20 million people.”

If the Obama administration caves to this pressure and awards health insurance premium subsidies to unions using money intended for the uninsured, this move would amount to little more than the administration blatantly (and some would argue illegally) paying off political cronies at the expense of low-income Americans.

Make no mistake: Any reprieve for Big Labor would not only be a disgraceful chapter of American political history; but it would also be a tacit admission of just how destructive this law will be to Americans’ ability to keep and afford the health insurance they now have.