Now they can tell Obamacare damage

Now they can tell us the damage Obamacare is causing. The government-controlled press was not allowed to report on the damage Obamacare would do. That is, what could be clearly seen on March 23, 2010 that would have side effects. Not just side effects, but damage clearly intended by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the other architects of Obamacare.

Not allowed to report? Well, they didn't report what could then be seen. But now the New York Times can report on a small business watching the huge, speeding Obamacare about to hit it.

New York Times about Baked in the Sun bakery and coffee shops in the San Diego, CA area:

Option One is to provide the insurance. According to the law, Ms. Shein will have to offer health insurance or, most likely, pay a penalty, and she estimates the insurance will cost up to $108,000 a year for 90 employees (managers have insurance already).

This is just an estimate, she said, because the insurance companies have not yet created and set a price on plans that meet the law’s requirement for minimum care. She estimates a cost of $200 per employee a month, of which the bakery would pay half and the employee would pay half. Employees can choose not to participate in the plan if they are covered elsewhere or for other reasons, so it is unlikely they will all sign up.

Option Two is to not offer health insurance and let employees find coverage elsewhere, perhaps on one of the new government exchanges. Under this option, the company will probably have to pay the mandated “employer shared responsibility payment” to the government.

The cost to the business would be $2,000 per employee a year, but the law exempts the first 30 employees, so the total would be $130,000 per year for a 95-person company. One benefit of this option is that the company would not have to take on the burden or expense of managing the insurance plan, which Ms. Shein estimates would take $10,000 of staff time.

One way to cover the costs associated with the new law would be to raise the price of each item sold about 4 percent and pass the costs along to buyers. “It’s ironic that our success meant we could grow,” Ms. Shein said, “and now we will be competing against smaller companies, with 50 employees or fewer, who will be able to charge less per item because they don’t have the financial burden of health insurance.” Prices are currently similar among local competitors, Ms. Shein said, and she says she believes the increase in her prices could affect her sales, possibly significantly.

Ms. Shein is considering a third option: outsourcing certain jobs to reduce the staff, because businesses with 50 or fewer employees will be exempt from the penalty. “We can outsource the cleaning and make the drivers independent contractors,” she said, “and we can cut the least profitable delivery routes, least profitable accounts or reduce the variety of items we create.”

It is important for Ms. Shein to make a decision soon on staff levels because the number of full-time employees a business has in 2013 will determine its status in 2014. If the business has 50 or more full-time, or full-time equivalent, employees, it has to provide insurance to any staff members who work 30 hours or more a week.

But… but… Obama said everything would be better if we allowed him to control everything! Not everything, just our health care. Obamacare is hurting right now. Businesses are cutting employees to get below 50 employees. Some are cutting full-time employees to below 30 hours to avoid Obama.

Via Commentary Magazine's Contentions blog.