Why would companies get penalized for not offering health care if there is a public option?

[cbdo2007]

I thought that was the point of the public option - so people who weren't covered at work could get it elsewhere?

[supernova]

1. IIRC, they are going to be required to pay a tax

to contribute to the fund so that lower income individuals can be subsitized.

Maybe that's what they are talking about with a "penalty." :shrug:

[cbdo2007]

3. Yeah, I guess the wording just depends on how you look at it.

[ejpoeta]

2. my husband's old company offered an awful plan that cost a lot and covered nothing.

they encouraged the employees to look into the state health plans like HealthyNY and Family Health Plus. I couldn't believe it when they sent that letter with the paycheck.But they DID offer a plan.... the cost was crazy high and didn't cover anything, but they offered it.

[cbdo2007]

5. I bet we get more and more companies offering junk plans just so they

have something on the books. In fact, that could be a whole new cottage industry that pops up of companies offering health care plans that are crazy expensive, just for companies that don't want to pay the tax, even though they know no one will ever use them.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. And that bothers me, with the 'mandatory' part - if your job offers

a plan is it mandatory that you sign up, no matter how bad it is? What a GREAT potential for insurance industry kick-backs - the insurer pays off the business owner to offer THIS plan, which give next to no coverage but meets the requirements of the law, and then they rake in payments without ever having to pay off themselves.

THAT'S what happens without a strong public option. More corruption, less service.

[ejpoeta]

11. the worst part right now about this is that as long as the company is offering

you a plan, no matter how bad or expensive it is, then you can't get the state plan because you have access to one. Unless, I guess, your income is so low. THe only reason we didn't have to have our daughter's uninsured for six months before we could sign up for Child health plus was that our income was below a certain point. We exist right on the border of qualifying for things and not qualifying for things. Like we qualify for reduced lunches currently.... we can get Child health plus for the kids for $9/month each. We qualified for help with a Y membership. If I worked at all or bob got a second job or something.... we would then be over the limit for anything, but would still not have enough to afford anything.

[cbdo2007]

12. If your income is below a certain point wouldn't your child be eligible for medicaid?

[ejpoeta]

13. i do not believe so. they are eligible for child health plus based on our income.

I did have medicaid back when bob was working for his previous employer however.

[cbdo2007]

15. I meant previously...in fact they probably still are:

Here is the website: http://www.hhs.gov/faq/medicaremedicaid/653.html It's worth a shot.

There are probably millions of children who would be eligible for Medicaid who don't get it cause their parents either think they aren't eligible or just don't have their priorities in place to sign up for it and stuff.

[Clear Blue Sky]

4. If the tax or penalty is less than the cost of the current private plans,

most companies will opt for the public plan.

[supernova]

6. Yeppers

:D

[SoCalDem]

7. Which is actually how it works BETTER.

Once employers no longer control life & death of their employees (through health care), employees can know the amount of the fines, and start demanding actual raises again ..All these years the boss has "told" them how much their health care cost him/her, and they had no real way of knwoing.. Once it's a publicly known cost, they can do some math, and get some of that money that was witheld from them all those years, for health care..

example:

Boss says ..sorry, no raise, your health care is costing me $100 a week more, and says it';s costing him $300 a week...well if the fine is $100 a week, the boss should be giving YOU that $200 he's been keeping ..

[supernova]

8. Absolutely

I;ve had muliple "raises" eaten up with increased healthcare premiums. Net effect? No real increase in take home pay.

[cbdo2007]

9. Isn't this information already available?

Every company I've worked for has given us a break down every year of exactly how much they pay of our premium and how much we pay, etc.

Also, this is targeted at companies that don't offer health care currently, so wouldn't it actually take away from the amount going toward salaries?

example:

If a company has 10 employees with a payroll budget of $500,000 and doesn't currently offer health care, with the economy slow they are already struggling to pay salaries, and now they will be hit with a tax of $40,000 for not offering health care. Now they may have to lay someone off to pay the tax, or lower salaries even more.

[HamdenRice]

14. They can offer the public plan. It's just a plan like any other

It actually makes it easier for employers to cover their employees by the employer choosing the public plan.