If what just passed the House of Representatives can be called health care reform, then the main reform will come in the form in costlier, less accessible health care for all.
Employers, sensing dark days on the health care cost fronts, have been adopting various strategies to make their employees pay more for their health care, either directly through premiums and deductibles or indirectly through penalties for not enrolling in wellness programs. In short, Obamacare is extending and exacerbating trends that began long before the current Democratic hegemony in D.C.
By law, it would be discriminatory to force "sick" employees (those with diabetes or those who smoke, for instance) to pay more for health insurance, but employers have found a way around this by offering discounts for those who do choose to participate in wellness programs.
Another nifty employer trick to shift costs is by forcing employees into consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) that combine high deductibles with health savings accounts, in a way transforming their employees into health care-savvy consumers.
What this boils down to is that, if you currently have health insurance and do not qualify for a subsidy (starting in 2014) from the government, your costs will skyrocket, and even if they don't, someone has to pay for those subsidies and the swelling ranks of Medicaid, and that someone is you and I, the working stiffs of America.
All this so the Democrats can forever campaign on the line: "The Republicans will take your social security abortion rights health care away from you."
The trillion-dollar election gambit, with the bill being sent to you and me.
One Way or Another, Guess Who Gets to Pay for Obamacare is a post from: Labor Law Guy
