THE STAGGERING COSTS OF OBAMACARE

Powerline ^ | April 2,2014 | PAUL MIRENGOFF

[Hojczyk]

Now that President Obama has completed his end-zone dance for perhaps signing up more people for health insurance than have been dropped from coverage due to Obamacare, it’s time for a sober look at the costs of his signature program. Our friend Tevi Troy, head of the American Health Policy Institute (AHPI), provides that look in a study called “The Cost of the Affordable Care Act to Large Employers.”

The study is based on internal cost data from more than 100 large employers (10,000 or more employees each) doing business in the United States. It offers the first-ever look at how these organizations believe Obamacare has impacted the current and future cost of providing health care to their employees.

The study’s main findings are that over the next decade:

Obamacare will cost large U.S. employers between $4,800 to $5,900 per employee.

Large employers expect overall Obamacare-related cost increases of between $163 million and $200 million per employer, or an increase of 4.3 percent in 2016 and 8.4 percent in 2023 over and above what they would otherwise be spending.

Based on these data, the total cost of Obamacare to all large U.S. employers will amount to between $151 billion and $186 billion, or 5.9 percent more than what they would otherwise be spending.

Tevi concludes that “these data demonstrate that the added mandates, fees and regulatory burdens associated with the ACA are increasing the cost of employer-sponsored health care plans, with implications for both employers and employees.” I’ll say.

Staffing decisions will, of course, be among the “implications.” If the estimates contained in the AHPI study are even close to accurate, Obamacare will likely prove to be a significant job-killer.

[relictele]

Obamacare is a death panel for American business, no matter how many straw men the arrogant punk rails against from his temporary backyard.

[Liz]

Democrats are congratulating themselves on passing O/Care. They think O/Care is wonderful. And that sanguine, "no problem" look on HHS Secy Sibelius' face tells us a lot.

For sure, Democrats have been promised a piece of the action....there's billions to be made (plus they're plugging unsuspecting enrollees into Democrat voter rolls). The wire-transfers are going 24/7. Once those tax dollars are in the hands of the Dummycrat criminal hordes, the billions are untraceable.

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ACA SEC. 4002. PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND.

(a) PURPOSE. It is the purpose of this section to establish a Prevention and Public Health Fund (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), to be administered through the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs.

(b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, and appropriated, to the Fund, out of any monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated—

(1) for fiscal year 2010, $500,000,000;
(2) for fiscal year 2011, $750,000,000;
(3) for fiscal year 2012, $1,000,000,000;
(4) for fiscal year 2013, $1,250,000,000;
(5) for fiscal year 2014, $1,500,000,000; and
(6) for fiscal year 2015, and each fiscal year thereafter, $2,000,000,000.

(c) USE OF FUND.—The Secretary shall transfer amounts in the Fund to accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding, over the fiscal year 2008 level, for programs authorized by the Public Health Service Act, for prevention, wellness, and public health activities including prevention research and health screenings, such as the Community Transformation grant program, the Education and Outreach Campaign for Preventive Benefits, and immunization programs.

(d) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—The Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House may provide for the transfer of funds in the Fund to eligible activities under this section, subject to subsection (c).

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....the reasons for all those O/Care delays, fixits, exemptions, waivers, extensions, etc, are becoming crystal clear.

[garjog]

[kearnyirish2]

If Republicans can’t get the word out, ObamaCare can cost every American $1 million more per year and the Dems will still win. Obama got a pass in 2012, and we’d better hope other Dems don’t in 2014; their strategy of having ObamaCare supporters “retire” and replacing them with fresh libs might work...