Businesses Stop Hiring Due to Health Care Reform

The new health care reform bill is having an effect: termination of full-time employees.  Small businesses cannot afford the mandate that hits once they have 31 employees and have at least one that gets their insurance through the government exchange – $2,000 per full-time employee .

Business owners will instead refuse to grow their businesses past 30 employees or will use contract labor instead of full-hires.  If a business takes on the 31st employee, their costs will either go up $180,000-$300,000 (if they buy insurance for everyone) or $60,000 if they just pay the $2000 penalty.  Obviously, no businessperson is going to see the value in hiring one or two more people at a minimum cost of $60,000 on top of the cost of the labor itself.  Not one.

Health care is not a right.  It is not something an employer must provide in order to hire someone.  The only thing an employer must do is pay someone a market-based wage for their work.  Health care is cost-of-living just like electricity or cable.  Americans do not have the right to electricity, in fact, many of us have gone without in lean times.  The government does not mandate that citizens have electricity and there is no expectation that employers will pay for us to have electricity.

Even big business is feeling the pain of Obama’s domestic agenda.  Catepillar has recently stated that the health care reform will cost it at least $100 Million in the first year alone.  With costs like that, a business has no choice but to cut back.

Employer-provided health care exists as a benefit.  Repeating that – a benefit.  If the Federal government wants to attempt to force individuals to buy health care, go for it and perhaps a constitutional challenge will right that ill.  Forcing someone to buy insurance for someone else under penalty of law.. what country is this?

Employees must only expect fair employment for a  market-based wage.  Expecting any more will most-certainly get them less.