[boxlunch]

This is what I don’t understand. Obamacare is horrible for hundreds of reasons, but I am not following the argument that companies will drop health insurance because they only have to pay a fine.

They don’t have a fine now, so what is their incentive to have health insurance now? As driftdriver wrote, it is to keep imployees.

Is there some other connection I’m missing on why companies will drop health insurance? I realize eventually the costs will go up because of all the mandates on insurers (no refusal of pre existing conditions, no upper ceiling on payments , etc.) and that may eventually make it prohibitive for companies to afford it as a benefit? Is that what people mean when when they say companies will just pay the fine? I thought the fine/tax was on the individual person anyway?

If anyone understands this please help me understand.

[driftdiver]

I don’t think anyone understands it, including the devil spawn who wrote it.

However, IMO its designed to eventually force everyone to a govt run program. There are fines for everyone involved who doesn’t play according to their rules. Those fines increase as time goes on in order to force the behavior they want.

What I don’t understand is why the insurance companies supported its passing.

[cableguymn]

Let me try..

Health insurance for employee 10,000 or more per year.
Fine per employee for not providing insurance 2,500 per year.

it’s all about the money. If a company can dump the health care costs of it’s employee’s on the government for only 2500 a year, a savings of 7500 dollars..

Do you think they would not take advantage of this?

[5thGenTexan]

What will cause companies to drop health insurance when they have it now? The same thing that caused them to drop pensions - when they can point to a government "alternative" and tell you it is no longer needed, too expensive, etc.

The health care exchanges will be the alternative they site for health care.

[Boogieman]

There is an employer mandate as well as the individual mandate. Employers over 50 employees who don’t provide coverage and have at least one employee in the exchanges will have to pay a fine for each employee in the exchange. As it stands, it’s already cheaper to drop your coverage, tell your employees to get insurance through the exchanges, and then pay the fines.

Sure, there will be competitive incentive to offer better coverage, but as the premiums go up, the incentive to drop coverage increases, more companies will pick that route, and the competitive incentive will drop.