Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Obamacare: Driving Up Costs And Driving Down Those Insured
Obamacare: Driving Up Costs And Driving Down Those Insured
Dec 9, 2025 10:10 PM

Delta Airlines has announced that it foresees a spike in health care costs for pany to the tune of $100 million a year. A Delta executive, Robert Kight, has said that fees associated with Obamacare will be costly, but won’t likely be more beneficial than what pany’s employees now have.

One of the costly items pertains to an annual fee of $63 per “covered participant” next year. pany estimates this means a more than $10 million expense in 2014. The catch for Delta is that, because many of their employees insure through Delta, the fee meant to help subsidize the health care law’s coverage amounts to a “direct subsidy” from pany that provides “zero direct benefit to our participants,” Kight said.

Another added es from the requirement to cover children and young adults on parents’ plans until they’re 26 years old. Kight reports that the change led to 8,000 more people being added to their rolls, at an annual cost of $14 million.

Further, the individual mandate — or the requirement on individuals to obtain health insurance — is expected to drive more people into pany plan and drive up their costs by another $14 million.

es just after the announcement from UPS and the University of Virginia that they are both dropping spousal insurance for their employees due to the cost of Obamacare. UPS told its employees:

Since the Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide affordable coverage, we believe your spouse should be covered by their own employer — just as U.P.S. has a responsibility to offer coverage to you, our employee.”

“In an effort to maintain premiums at or below current cost,” Andrew McGowan, a U.P.S. spokesman, said, “U.P.S. made a change that affects a limited number of employees.”

This plan affects about one-quarter of the UPS workforce in the U.S.

While the University of Virginia has been a supporter of Obamacare, the $7 million per year spousal support was expected to add to their budget proved to be too much of a burden for the school.

Along with cuts to family insurance plans, Obamacare is forcing many businesses to cut employee hours, especially in the food service industry. The Economist says that Obamacare isn’t a healthy plan for our nation at all:

…Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago contends that Obamacare’s distortions to the labour market will outweigh any growth from lowering health costs…Mr Mulligan predicts that Americans will work 3% less in 2015 than they otherwise would have.

Interestingly, the number of jobs in sectors most affected by Obamacare, such as retail, leisure and hospitality, have grown relatively quickly, notes Alec Phillips of Goldman Sachs. But the hours worked in such industries have grown more slowly, suggesting a reluctance to add more full-time jobs.

When the final diagnosis is done, Obamacare may have nasty side-effects.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Radio Free Acton: Gratitude in a tight knit world
In this special Thanksgiving episode of Radio Free Acton, occasional host Anne Marie Schieber speaks with Liz Hilton, a designer, entrepreneur and 3D knit innovator. In 2015, Liz founded KNITit in response to the global need for customized knitting and is now finding purpose in helping others with her creativity. Anne also speaks with some of Liz’s customers, unraveling a story of gratitude. Check out these additional resources on this week’s podcast topics: Learn more about KNITit Successful Entrepreneur Liz...
Occupational licensing harms the economically vulnerable
Note:This article is part of the ‘Principles Project,’ a list of principles, axioms, and beliefs that undergirda Christian view of economics, liberty, and virtue. Clickhereto read the introduction and other posts in this series. The Principle: #10B — Because it interferes with economic liberty, occupational licensing is almost always unjust and unnecessary. The Definitions:This principle has two key terms that need to be clearly defined: Economic liberty — The freedom to secure and protect one’s labor, resources, and private property...
New Issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality (Vol. 21, No. 2)
The newest issue of the Journal of Markets & Morality has been published online and print copies are ing. This issue features a diverse selection of scholarship on the morality of the marketplace and the nature and history of free societies. As a special feature, this issue also contains a symposium on “Golf, Business, and Leadership,” organized by Journal of Markets & Morality associate editor Jude Chua Soo Meng, Associate Professor and Head of Policy and Leadership Studies at the...
What is the ‘Norway Option’ for Brexit?
Theresa May has unveiled the withdrawal agreement she negotiated with the EU and, as of this writing, may survive opposition within her own party to see the deal voted on in Parliament. The 585-page agreement satisfied no party: Leavers find it too uncertain and stultifying, Remainers say it strains ties with the nearest proximate trade bloc. All parties agree: There must be other options. Some have inquired about the “Norway Option” – but what is it? Mark R. Royce...
Conflict and resolution: Charles de Gaulle’s understanding of ‘nation’
In an article written for Public Discourse, Samuel Gregg. Acton’s director of research, reviews Julian Jackson’s recent book about General Charles de Gaulle. The book municates the idea that “de Gaulle’s conception of France as a nation had a very specific character.” “De Gaulle” is a historical biography, not mentary on present-day debates concerning globalization or nationalism. “It’s difficult, however, not to reflect on these matters when reading this book,” writes Gregg, “given the central place accorded by de Gaulle...
How gratitude transforms our perspective on global trade
The Thanksgiving holiday gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on God’s overwhelming grace, abundance, and provision—spiritually, materially, and otherwise. But amid and throughout those reflections, how often do we pause and consider the relationships, channels, and institutions that God uses in the process? Do we acknowledge that the very foods on our Thanksgiving e from an in-depth exchange of human creativity, investment, and daily sacrifice? Are we thankful for the labor it took to grow and harvest, package and...
From Babel to Babylon: How God is redeeming our work
In our Sunday-school retellings of the Tower of Babel, we are often fixated on themes of human pride and failure, shrugging off the aspirations of the builders as frivolous or far-fetched. In a recent series at The Green Room, Greg Forster frames things a bit differently, highlighting the story’s hidden lessons about human destiny and redemptive purpose in a fallen world. Far from being a story about the limitations of human power, Forster argues, Babel is a story about humanity’s...
Shenandoah and ‘every good gift’ for which we give thanks
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, eth down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” I’ll be reading this passage (James 1:17-18) to my congregation on Thanksgiving morning. It’s one of the assigned Propers for Thanksgiving Day according to the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and...
Debunking the durable Malthusian myths
On his show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh discussed the famous bet between Julian Simon and Paul Ehrlich in 1980 over the question of whether or not the Earth had sufficient natural resources to sustain the growing global population. Erlich — a biologist from Stanford University — had gained some notoriety through his issuance of dire public warnings about the potential catastrophic consequences of continued human population growth, and had authored a book on the subject that was gaining a good deal...
Trade, nations, and war in an enlightened age
Between 1776 and 1815, Britain was at peace for just 10 years, notes Samuel Gregg, Acton’s Director of Research. Reading the Scottish defense of free trade without this in mind is a mistake: It’s easy to forget that the tremendous intellectual creativity flowing from the Scottish Enlightenment occurred against a background of war. These included Britain’s participation in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), the Seven Years War (1756-1763), the American War of...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved