Workers Living Under Obamacare

March 20, 2013

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“What I am certain of is that we as a business cannot sustain any more increases in health-care costs and will pass all increases on.”

– David Grenier Owner of Grenier Buick GMC in Victorville, California, CNBC

The new regulations under ObamaCare are forcing employers to examine staffing levels and consider moving more workers to part-time or not hiring more workers at all. One employer put it this way: “Say we’re paying $3,200 a year for insurance for somebody, and the new regulations cost us $5,000 to insure somebody. If they work fewer hours, we just saved $5,000 per person.”

(Bertha Coombs, “Drop Coverage or Cut Hours? Big Companies Grapple With Obamacare,” CNBC, 2/13/2013)

Over one-third of the 9.1 million full-time jobs among America’s diverse business franchises could be cut back or eliminated by Obamacare as small businesses struggle to maintain profitability while coughing up money to pay for Washington-mandated health care coverage, according to the International Franchise Association.

(Paul Bedard, “Study: Obamacare threatens 3.2 million small business jobs” The Examiner, 3/22/2013)

The labor unions that supported the passage of ObamaCare are now concerned that under ObamaCare the costs of their healthcare plans will increase and make unionized workers less competitive.

(Janet Adamy and Melanie Trottman, “Some Unions Grow Wary of Health Law They Backed,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/30/2013)

In a recent survey, 61% of business owners cited concerns about the cost of healthcare as a reason for not hiring more people. Under ObamaCare, healthcare premiums have continued to rise.

(Dennis Jacobe, “More U.S. Small Businesses Cutting Workers Than Hiring,” Gallup, 1/31/2013; Merrill Matthews and Mark E. Litow op-ed, “ObamaCare’s Health-Insurance Sticker Shock,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/13/2013)

In a recent survey, 56% of business owners said that their concerns about new government regulations were a reason for not hiring more. Under ObamaCare, 20,000 pages of new regulations have already been published, with more yet to come.

(Dennis Jacobe, “More U.S. Small Businesses Cutting Workers Than Hiring,” Gallup, 1/31/2013; Charlie Spiering, “Photo: 828 Pages of New Obamacare Regulations in Just One Day,” The Washington Examiner, 3/12/2013)

Small employers are likely to see a significant increase in healthcare premiums under ObamaCare.

(Merrill Matthews and Mark E. Litow op-ed, “ObamaCare’s Health-Insurance Sticker Shock,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/13/2013)

For small businesses, the decision of whether or not to offer employees insurance is “riddled with potential penalties and taxes” and small business owners are worried about how much ObamaCare may increase the costs for the healthcare plans they currently offer.

(Mary Shedden, “Small-Business Owners Getting Tense About Complying with Health Care Law,” The Tampa Tribune, 2/07/2013)