The ACA and Costs

New Poll Shows Voters in Red States Want to Expand Medicaid – A core part of Obamacare is popular in states from Kansas to Georgia where Republicans are blocking it.  They’ll pay come November.
Republicans desperately hoping to focus the nation on Obamacare’s failures are being stymied by facts. The Affordable Care Act hit its March 31 goal of 7 million enrolled in private insurance plans and 3 million more have signed up for coverage under Medicaid. Now, Republicans face stiff opposition from voters in states where they blocked Medicaid expansion.

According to new polling by Public Policy Poling conducted for MoveOn, in voters support Medicaid expansion in key states by wide margins: 52 to 35 percent in Kansas, 58 to 33 percent in Florida, 59 to 30 percent in Pennsylvania, 54 to 38 percent in Georgia. All are states where Medicaid expansion has been blocked by Republican politicians.  In Virginia, where the GOP has also blocked Medicaid expansion, a previous poll found that even a majority of state Republican voters support extending coverage for the state’s low-income residents.  And other polls show that three-out-of-four Americans nationwide, including a majority of Republicans, support Medicaid expansion.

On the other side the news is, almost 41% of small businesses say they are either laying off employees or placing a hiring freeze because they can’t pay the health insurance required under ObamaCare. 

What this means is taxpayers will be forced to pay more because the real cost of the ACA will greatly exceed prior estimates.  It can’t be any other way!  You can’t insure 10 million people who were previously uninsurable while reducing the total number of persons actually paying into the system and not expect premiums to rise. 

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9 Responses to The ACA and Costs

  1. Tina says:

    I wonder if the polling question bothered to ask how much they thought their state taxes would have to rise to meet expanded medicaid mandates.

    Most people who answer the polling questions respond immediately with their hearts. They never think about the impact it might have on their personal budgets when their taxes have to be raised to meet the federal mandate.

    People have been conditioned to think entitlement is without limits because we will simply “tax the rich” and “they don’t need that money. they don’t think that the tax will hit them too or that taxing the rich too much will cost people job opportunities.

    The ignorance about how other people’s money also works to create jobs is maddening!

  2. Chris says:

    Jack: “On the other side the news is, almost 41% of small businesses say they are either laying off employees or placing a hiring freeze, because they can’t pay the health insurance required under ObamaCare.”

    Please cite evidence for this ridiculous claim.

    Tina: “I wonder if the polling question bothered to ask how much they thought their state taxes would have to rise to meet expanded medicaid mandates.”

    The answer would be zero, since the expansion is fully paid for by the fed for the first nine years.

    http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3801

  3. Chris says:

    OK, I Googled it myself. One poll conducted last summer did show about 41% of employers say they had “frozen hiring” due to the law. But Jack’s claim was about lay-offs, not hiring freezes. Only 19% said that they had reduced their employees due to the law.

    So unless 19% now counts as “almost half,” Jack’s statement is wrong.

    To add to that, these types of polls aren’t very reliable–employers may be citing Obamacare even though they would have frozen hiring anyway. And since so many polls show that people are deeply confused about the impact of the law–no doubt partially because of the vast misinformation campaign against the law that continues to be waged on this very site–this doesn’t estimate the real impact of the law, only what people think the impact might be.

  4. Dewey says:

    The corporations are doing very well. Companies also told their employees they would be laid off if they voted for Obama last election.

    propaganda, fear mongering, ect ect

    Some people will leave their jobs they kept for healthcare now they can get it themselves and do what they love instead, some will give up that second job.

    media is bought and corrupt. You have to read the reports and turn off the tv and propaganda blogs anymore.

    Still waiting for how it affected your healthcare cause I know you certainly would not be on the gov dole with medi care or anything. After all the Tea Party wants to get rid of all that.

  5. J. Soden says:

    Medicaid also as a down side. For those who sign up, the states can and will go after any remaining estate for repayment after a recipient dies.
    In some cases, heirs may be in for a rude awakening.

  6. Tina says:

    Nine whole years, huh?

    Unfortunately the federal government is already $17 trillion in debt (and rising) so that news isn’t very comforting. The money for it still comes from taxpayers or just adds to the debt.

    (Remember when progressives were screaming about debt? That was back when the debt was around $9.5 trillion. The President said it was irresponsible to spend the nation in to debt like that. Think Progress said of the debt that “a staggering $7.7 trillion…represents the fiscal harm that President Bush has inflected on our nation.” They also wailed about a slightly higher unemployment rate of 5%)

    When the nine years come to en end the sudden added mandate to state budgets will be felt. During those nine years the ACA will still add 2.8% to what states spend on Medicaid. CBO thinks other “savings” will offset this expense…maybe cuts in services to the elderly or in lower payments to hospitals and doctors?

    Bottom line…the government just expanded the entitlement class and it has to be paid for somehow.

  7. Tina says:

    The employer mandate delay until after 2014 has placed the full effect of the ACA on employment off until after the elections in November.

    In July 2013 Natural News posted the results of a report:

    “Small businesses expect the requirement to negatively impact their employees. Twenty-seven percent say they will cut hours to reduce full time employees, 24 percent will reduce hiring, and 23 percent plan to replace full time employees with part-time workers to avoid triggering the mandate.”

    In November of 2012 NewsMax listed big companies that planned to layoff employees:

    Welch Allyn — a manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment in central New York — which says it will cut 275 employees, about 10 percent of its workforce, over the next three years.

    Dana Holding Corp. — a global auto parts manufacturing company — which warned of layoffs due “$24 million over the next six years in additional U.S. healthcare expenses.’’

    Stryker — a medical device manufacturer — which plans to close its facility in Orchard Park, N.Y., eliminating 96 jobs in December. They also say they’ll slash 5 percent of their global workforce, about 1,170 positions.

    Boston Scientific — a medical device manufacturer — said it plans to cut between 1,200 and 1,400 jobs, while shifting investments and workers overseas to China.

    Medtronic — a medical device maker — which cut 500 positions over the summer, with 500 more set to be eliminated by the end of 2013.

    Other companies promising job cuts include: Smith & Nephew — 770 layoffs; Abbott Labs — 700 layoffs; Covidien — 595 layoffs; Kinetic Concepts — 427 layoffs; St. Jude Medical — 300 layoffs; and Hill Rom — 200 layoffs.

    Among the reasons for the layoffs: increased costs for health insurance and, in the case of medical manufacturing companies, a new medical-device tax.

    Many retailers are downsizing by closing the most nonproductive stores…that eliminates all jobs in those towns.

    In January 2013 TeaParty.org quoted one of the Presidents favorite economists, Mark Zandi of Moody’s, and then explains the situation:

    “It will have a negative impact on job creation” this year, says Mr. Zandi.

    The Obamacare employer mandate doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2014, but the government requires businesses to track worker schedules for three to 12 months in advance. That means many employers plan to get a jump start on avoiding Obamacare’s $2,000 per-worker fine by firing workers now, reducing employee hours, or replacing full-time employees with part-time workers.

    A survey by the International Franchise Association finds that 31% of franchisees say they plan to cut staff to duck under Obamacare’s 50-employer mandate. And another study by Mercer consulting firm found that half of businesses who don’t presently offer health insurance plan to reduce employee hours to avert triggering Obamacare’s penalties.

    As Breitbart News has reported, Pennsylvania Community College of Allegheny County has already slashed the hours of 400 adjunct instructors, support staff, and part-time teachers to sidestep the Obamacare fines. Doing so will save the already cash-strapped college an estimated $6 million.

    Janet Yellen expressed concern as reported by Larry Kudlow:

    Ever the Keynesian who subscribes to the non-existent, long-term trade-off between employment and inflation, Ms. Yellen did express worries about long-term layoffs and the shrinking size of the labor-participation rate. She’s right about that. The labor situation is subpar.

    The employment-to-population ratio is only 58.5 percent, way below its year-2000 peak of 65 percent. The participation rate is a low 62.8 percent, way below its modern average.

    The Joint Economic Committee estimates that jobs are 4.5 million below the employment trend line since 1960, and 7 million below Ronald Reagan’s recovery rate. And average monthly private-payroll increases are only 178,000 in Obama’s recovery. Compare that with the Reagan monthly rate of 330,000.

    So Yellen is right to be worried about jobs. But she’s wrong to think the Fed can do much about this.

    The one thing that is never figured in progressive policies and laws is the people factor. People don’t have the power to print money as Obama has done for five years. When their bottom line is smacked with sudden and strong added expense they adjust or die. They pull back…something has to go…and quite often, unfortunately, it’s employees who take the hit. It’s heartbreaking but businesses can’t lower the rent or utilities and can’t stop rising prices for the things they need to run their businesses…shipping, parts, new inventory.

    A community college needed a six million dollar adjustment!

    This law is just not workable. Where is the morality in helping people when you have to hurt others to do it?

    It sure isn’t saving those people who liked their policy and won’t be saving $2500 on their insurance. It sure isn’t helping people whose hours have been cut or people who want to work and can’t get a job. And as we tolerate the high unemployment and people become discouraged, all in the name of Obama’s agenda, how will we meet the growing demand for help as those who need outnumber those who pay? The result of this downward spiral will not be pretty.

  8. Pie Guevara says:

    In this forum Dewey and Chris sure go far to prove themselves to be the arrogant, self-righteous, snot- nosed jerks that they are.

    “Please cite evidence for this ridiculous claim.”

    “Only 19% said that they had reduced their employees due to the law.

    “So unless 19% now counts as “almost half,” Jack’s statement is wrong.”

    As it turns out it wasn’t ridiculous and (ONLY!) 19% of employers laying off employees because of Obamacare is not insignificant. The nitpicking, bullying, self-righteous pissant strikes again!

    As for Chris The Coward’s new pal Dewey, he is effectively stating that the Post Scripts folks are a bunch of ignorant, buffoons who have been brain washed by media propaganda. Gee whiz, how does one answer that??? This is the typical of Dewey’s slurs. Could Dewey be any more of a clueless, presumotive, arrogant, insulting, pompous, cowardly, anonymous creep? I think not. Dewey, you know nothing about the Tea Party and cannot speak for them. All you do is toss snot and disjointed, stream of mentally defective and dysfunctional sneers, just like your 2-year-old mental equal, Chris The Coward.

    WHAT A PAIR! Have you had enough of these two @$$holes yet? No? Well, then, keep enabling them.

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