May 27, 2010 - 8:10PM
Small Businesses: Obamacare Will Shut Us Down
Business Group Calls Bill “Death By a Thousand Cuts”
President Obama Promised Economic Benefits As A Result Of His Healthcare Overhaul:
“President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to tout the economic benefits of overhauling the health care system, saying that reform would help build a ‘new foundation for our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of tomorrow.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Obama: Health bill will create jobs,” Politico, 1/9/2010)
RED ALERT: Gimmick Loopholes Don’t Make Up For Tax Hikes And Mandates, Small Businesses Push Back:
“This law is death by a thousand cuts for small business owners. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the overhaul will cost about $115 billion more than first projected, bringing the total to more than $1 trillion. Small businesses will also now have to deal with an onslaught of new taxes and burdensome paperwork. Supporters say the law will significantly help small businesses, focusing on the much-talked about small business tax credit. But the reality is that the tax credit is complex and very limited because firms qualify based on number of employees and average wages. The credit, which is only available for a maximum of six years, puts small business owners through a series of complicated ‘tests’ to determine if they qualify and how much they will receive. Fewer than one-third of small businesses even pass the first three (of four) tests to qualify: have 25 employees or less, provide health insurance, and pay 50% of the cost of that insurance. More importantly, the credit is temporary, but health-care cost increases are permanent. When the credit ends, small businesses will be left paying full price. They'll also be forced to deal with all sorts of new taxes, fees and mandates buried in this 2,000-page law.” (Dan Danner, “ObamaCare vs. Small Business,” Wall Street Journal, 5/27/2010)
May 24, 2010 - 7:36PM
Obamacare Tax Structure Penalizes Small Business Growth
Healthcare Takeover Could Punish Employers for Hiring
President Obama Promised Economic Benefits As A Result Of His Healthcare Overhaul:
“President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to tout the economic benefits of overhauling the health care system, saying that reform would help build a ‘new foundation for our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of tomorrow.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Obama: Health bill will create jobs,” Politico, 1/9/2010)
RED ALERT: Obamacare Tax Structure Keeps Small Businesses From Expanding:
“A study by the National Center for Policy Analysis shows that tax credits in the new healthcare law could negatively impact small-business hiring decisions. The new law provides a 50 percent tax credit to companies offering health coverage that have fewer than 10 workers who, on average, earn $25,000 a year. The tax credit is reduced as more employees are added to the payroll. The NCPA study finds the reduction in tax relief to be a cost concern for companies looking to hire additional workers, but operate on slim profit margin yet still provide employee health coverage. ‘You wouldn’t think this would have an impact, but at the margins, when they [business owners] decide to hire an extra worker, they’re not only going to be paying that worker’s salary, they’re going to have to absorb the cost of losing the tax credit,’ Pamela Villarreal, NCPA Senior Policy Analyst and co-author of the report, told The Hill.” (Jay Heflin, “Report: Healthcare law encourages small businesses to stay small,” The Hill, 5/23/2010)
May 20, 2010 - 7:13PM
Obamacare Tax Cuts Get “Lost in the Fine Print”
Stringent Requirements Exclude Many Small Businesses from Financial Assistance
President Obama Promised Economic Benefits as a Result of His Healthcare Overhaul:
“President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to tout the economic benefits of overhauling the health care system, saying that reform would help build a ‘new foundation for our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of tomorrow.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Obama: Health bill will create jobs,” Politico, 1/9/2010)
RED ALERT: Obama’s Small Business Cuts Get “Lost in the Fine Print”:
“Zach Hoffman was confident his small business would qualify for a new tax cut in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law. But when he ran the numbers, Hoffman discovered that his office furniture company wouldn't get any assistance with the $79,200 it pays annually in premiums for its 24 employees. ‘It leaves you with this feeling of a bait-and-switch,’ he said. When the administration unveiled the small business tax credit earlier this week, officials touted its ‘broad eligibility’ for companies with fewer than 25 workers and average annual wages under $50,000 that provide health coverage. Hoffman's workers earn an average of $35,000 a year, which makes it all the more difficult to understand why his company didn't qualify. Lost in the fine print: The credit drops off sharply once a company gets above 10 workers and $25,000 average annual wages.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “FACT CHECK: Tax cut math doesn't add up for some,” Associated Press, 5/20/2010)
May 15, 2010 - 2:09AM
Government Now Picking Winners and Losers as Part of Healthcare Takeover
Nonprofit Providers Face Increased Financial Risk Under ObamaCare
Pelosi: “We Have To Pass The Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It”:
“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Pelosi Remarks, 3/25/2010)
RED ALERT: Standard & Poor’s Analysis Says Gov’t Picking Winners And Losers, Nonprofits Face Credit Risk:
“The U.S. healthcare overhaul bill will provide insurance coverage for millions of Americans and possibly lower healthcare cost inflation, but it poses an increased credit risk for nonprofit providers, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday. ‘We expect that the expanded insurance coverage will create winners and losers among providers, based on their existing and future payor mix, their ability to meet demand from newly insured patients, the impact on disproportionate share funding, and the impact on commercial health care insurance availability and rates,’ said S&P analyst Liz Sweeney in a new report….The bill can be viewed as having two halves, insurance reform and delivery system and payment reform, said the report. The former will mostly be covered by higher taxes and cuts in existing provider reimbursement formulas. But it remains unclear how the second part of the bill will be implemented, creating uncertainty for providers.” (Ciara Linnane, “Healthcare Bill Poses Credit Risk for Nonprofits,” Reuters, 5/13/2010)
May 13, 2010 - 7:52PM
Healthcare Takeover Slams Indiana with $3.5 Billion Tab
Costs Add Up For Hoosiers As True Price Tag of Obamacare Is Revealed
Pelosi: “We Have To Pass The Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It”:
“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Pelosi Remarks, 3/25/2010)
RED ALERT: State Analyst Ups Cost Projection By Over $1 Billion, Obamacare Now Costing Hoosiers $3.5 Billion:
“The federal health-care legislation could cost Indiana as much as $3.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis presented Wednesday to the State Budget Committee. That estimate is up from a $2.3 billion projection made in December before Congress passed the landmark legislation. obert Damler, a state-hired actuary, told lawmakers that the $3.5 billion cost represents the total liability the state could face in additional expenses under the law from 2011 through 2020.” (Bill Ruthhart, “Health Reform Could Cost Indiana $3.5 Billion,” Indianapolis Star, 5/13/2010)
May 12, 2010 - 2:34AM
Obamacare to Add Another $115 Billion to the Healthcare Tab
CBO Warns Additional Spending Could Push Healthcare Takeover Costs Above $1 Trillion
President Obama Promised Economic Benefits as a Result of His Healthcare Overhaul:
“President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to tout the economic benefits of overhauling the health care system, saying that reform would help build a ‘new foundation for our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of tomorrow.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Obama: Health bill will create jobs,” Politico, 1/9/2010)
RED ALERT: Additional Spending Could Add $115 Billion To The Democrats’ Trillion-Dollar Healthcare Tab:
“Congressional budget referees say President Barack Obama's new health care law could potentially add another $115 billion over 10 years to government health care spending. If Congress approves all the additional spending, that would push the 10-year cost of the overhaul above $1 trillion — an unofficial limit the Obama administration set early on. The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday the added spending includes $10 billion to $20 billion in administrative costs to federal agencies carrying out the law, as well as $34 billion for community health centers and $39 billion for American Indian health care.” (Health overhaul law potentially costs $115B more, Associated Press, 5/11/2010)
May 6, 2010 - 10:59PM
Employers Forced To Choose Between Job Cuts Or Dropping Health Coverage
Companies Responding to High Cost and Burdens of Dem Healthcare Takeover
President Obama: If You Like Your Healthcare Coverage, You Can Keep It:
“At the same time -- I just want to be completely clear about this; I keep on saying this but somehow folks aren't listening -- if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. Nobody is going to force you to leave your health care plan.” (Remarks by the President, 8/15/09, accessed on whitehouse.gov 5/6/2010)
RED ALERT: …Unless My Healthcare Takeover Forces Your Employer to Cut Coverage In Order to Stay In Business:
“The great mystery surrounding the historic health care bill is how the corporations that provide coverage for most Americans -- coverage they know and prize -- will react to the new law's radically different regime of subsidies, penalties, and taxes. Now, we're getting a remarkable inside look at the options AT&T, Deere, and other big companies are weighing to deal with the new legislation. Internal documents recently reviewed by Fortune, originally requested by Congress, show what the bill's critics predicted, and what its champions dreaded: many large companies are examining a course that was heretofore unthinkable, dumping the health care coverage they provide to their workers in exchange for paying penalty fees to the government. That would dismantle the employer-based system that has reigned since World War II. It would also seem to contradict President Obama's statements that Americans who like their current plans could keep them. And as we'll see, it would hugely magnify the projected costs for the bill, which controls deficits only by assuming that America's employers would remain the backbone of the nation's health care system.” (Shawn Tully, “AT&T, Verizon, Others Thought About Dropping Health Plans,” CNNMoney.com, 5/6/2010)