White House Punts Again on Employer Mandate

(DALLAS, TX) – For the second time in a year, the White House Monday granted some employers more time before they must offer health insurance to full-time workers or face a stiff penalty. According to the Job Creators Network, this is another vital sign the 2010 law is fatally flawed and must be overhauled by Congress.

“This is one more in a long line of on-the-fly changes in the Affordable Care Act, and there’s no end in sight. Clearly the new healthcare law is broken badly,” said Robert Luddy, CEO of Raleigh-based CaptiveAire Systems and a member of Job Creators Network (JCN). “The President must stop unilaterally tinkering on the margins of this mess and instead ask Congress, the business community and other stakeholders to work together to fundamentally reform it.”

In recent months, the White House made a series of unilateral changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) intended to soften its immediate impact. Implementation of the employer mandate – the penalty forcing businesses to offer health insurance or pay substantial fines – was set to begin in 2014, then pushed to 2015. The US Treasury Department delayed it again Monday, allowing businesses with 50 to 99 employees to comply in 2016. Larger businesses also gained a concession: a new, slower phase-in of the mandate.

“Business owners aren’t focused on the political nature of this announcement,” Luddy said. “We know the negative impact the new healthcare law is having on job creation and we’re concerned the measures the White House is delaying today will destroy just as many jobs in 2015 and beyond.”

“Instead of forcing business owners and the American people to endure even more changes, delays and fumbles, the business community wants congressional action,” Luddy said. 

ABOUT JOB CREATORS NETWORK

Job Creators Network (JCN) is the voice of real job creators that has been missing from the debate on jobs and our economic crisis. JCN members talk about paychecks, not politics, helping the public and policymakers understand how to create jobs. For more information please visitwww.JobCreatorsNetwork.com.