President Changes His Health Care Law, Again
In what is becoming a common occurrence, President Obama has made another change to his Affordable Care Act. His administration announced last week that most employers won’t face a fine next year if they fail to offer workers health insurance. This latest rewrite of Obamacare would delay the implementation of the health care mandate for companies for another year, and for some maybe forever.
Under the original 2010 law, employers with the equivalent of at least 50 full-time workers had to offer health care coverage to their employees or face a fine of $2,000 per worker beginning in 2014. In 2013 the Obama administration moved the starting date of this requirement to 2015.
Now under the new rules, companies with 50 to 99 full-time workers are exempt from the mandate until 2016. And firms with 100 or more employees now only need to cover 70% of their full-time workers in 2015 and 95% in 2016 and after. The original law required 100% of full-time workers to be covered by health insurance.
The one question I have is where does the President Obama get the authority to continually change this health care law? The wording of the Affordable Care Act specifically states that the mandate for everybody must take effect “after December 31, 2013”. Nor does the law give the President the power to change the law as he sees fit. My understanding of the process is that the President is required to get the approval of Congress whenever changing a definitive statutory mandate. Am I missing something here?
Also, why has the President been so willing to delay the health insurance mandate for businesses and not to individuals, who as of January 1st are required to carry health insurance or pay a penalty? The administration has refused to suspend the individual insurance mandate, despite the damage caused to millions who have lost, or will lose their previous coverage. Why is the President, who continually preaches about fairness, so willing to accommodate businesses in helping them acclimate to Obamacare while individuals are not afforded the same luxury?
