A Treasury Department official confirmed that the employer mandates in Obamacare will not be rolled out until 2015 – one year later than originally planned.
The agency’s blog said that the Obama administration will “provide an additional year before the … mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.”
According to the blog post, the reason for the delay is to give employers more time to understand requirements and adapt. A Treasury source said the extra year will also give the White House more time to persuade health insurance providers more time to participate in the program.
But the real reason for the delay is likely far more political.
The new schedule means that businesses will not be punished for failing to enroll all of their workers in health care plans until after the elections.
Once the Affordable Care Act is rolled out in 2015, companies that have over 50 employees must provide all of them with full health care plans. Employers who do not comply will be punished. The IRS, a Treasury sub-agency of the Treasury Department, will have the task of assesing those penalties.
Republicans have been fighting Obamacare from the beginning. Raffi Williams, the Republican National Committee Press Secretary, said, “Obamacare is a flawed law. It has been from day one and continues to be one now.”
“This latest announcement is just another sign that the president and his administration are afraid of the havoc that this imperfect law will wreak on everyday Americans.”
Darrell Issa, a California Republican, is Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He said, “The House has repeatedly voted to repeal Obamacare because it will not work and is bad public policy. The President has delayed a critical component of the Affordable Care Act because it is absolutely unaffordable for American job creators and workers. It is unclear that he has the authority to do this without Congress.”
“This is another in a string of extra legal actions taken by his Administration to mask the horrible impact his law will have on the economy and health care in the United States.”
Obamacare is the biggest government power-grab of our time and must be overturned immediately. In a free country, government cannot dictate lifestyle choices, nor can it become the overprotective Mommy and Daddy of its citizens. Freedom means having the right to make bad choices and then deal with the consequences ourselves.
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