Just a week
ago President Obama and the White House Administration announced that one of
the most essential elements of the Affordable Care Act, or ‘Obamacare’ which
states that businesses with 50 or more full-time employees must provide
healthcare benefits to their workers was delayed one year. Because the employer
mandate deems a 30 hour work week as ‘full-time,’ this provision has affected
thousands of businesses in America. One such business, Fatburger, claims that
this news has simply come too late since they have been in “slash” mode to cut
additional employees now for more than 6 months.
Mike
Johnson, the owner of a Buffalo’s Café franchise has said that the mandate has
made his life particularly difficult. "I've been worried nearly sick about
it," Johnson said. "This gives me another year to look at all the
options, and lets the politicians talk about what the best course of action
would be. The employer mandate never made any sense to anybody, especially to
struggling small businesses," he said.
Still, the
White House claims that these changes will make very little difference
considering that according to their facts, 96% of businesses already offer
their employees some kind of healthcare benefits. What these statistics don’t
consider however, is that the Affordable Care Act also mandates that these
health plans contain 10 ‘essential health benefits’ which typically expands
what current business health plans offer. Many are continually questioning the
Presidents healthcare policies.
In a closed
meeting to Republicans, Speaker of the House John Boehnor said “Is it fair for
the president of the United States to give American businesses an exemption
from his health care law’s mandates, without giving the same exemption to the
rest of America? Hell no, it’s not fair.” With the Affordable Care Act still
lacking favorability, and Americans getting even more nervous about its
implementation, comments like this are certain to continue to political
bonfire.
Share
your Thoughts:
Do you think
the Affordable Care Act Health Policy will benefit or hurt small businesses? Do
you think Health Policy should be mandated to all people or should certain
groups be except? What do you think the best plan of action would be for Health
Policy in America?
Thank you to
Baylor MBA in Healthcare Program for continuing to challenge their students’
thoughts on Health Policy.
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/08/smallbusiness/obamacare-fatburger/?hpt=hp_t3
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/boehner-obamacare-business-exemptions/2013/07/09/id/514200
http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/healthcare_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg
