Saturday, October 20, 2012

ObamaCare Work Disincentives: 4 Cliffs Hit Employees

In the time of Caesar, all roads led to Rome. In the time of Obama-Care, seemingly every path heads straight for a cliff.
The health law is filled with cliffs where the returns for more work take a nose-dive.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated ObamaCare will "reduce the amount of labor used in the economy by roughly half a percent" — about 800,000 full-time jobs. It seems likely that four especially steep cliffs — including two where marginal tax rates can approach 100% or more — will factor into work and hiring decisions.
The 50th employee: For companies with 49 workers that do not offer its employees health coverage, the hiring of just one more worker would carry a penalty of $40,000.
A firm with at least 50 workers that doesn't offer coverage must pay a $2,000 fine per worker (minus the first 30 workers) if even one of its employees receives ObamaCare subsidies.
Likewise, even if a business with 50 employees offers coverage, it would still face up to a $3,000 charge for each worker who nevertheless claims Obama-Care subsidies.
The law gives workers this option when employer coverage is deemed unaffordable because it costs more than 9.5% of the worker's household income.
France has 2.4 times as many firms with 49 employees as with 50 due to labor regulations that take effect with the 50th hire, BusinessWeek has noted.

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