Eric Novack makes a good point on the shockingly low employer penalty in MA's universal health care program:
I want to focus briefly on the employer mandate. The law, if unchanged, states that employers who do not provide health insurance would be assessed $295 per employee per YEAR. That's right. Employers would pay about $300 per year per employee if coverage is not offered.
Does anyone see the problem? Most small businesses spend close to $300 per MONTH per employee now, for ‘good' coverage.
Math never looks good in print, so I'll make this example brief. Small business, ‘Matt's Place', has 20 employees. Currently, covering health insurance for those 20 costs 20 x $300 x 12 months = $72,000 per year. (That's $6000 per month.)
Under the Massachusetts plan, if ‘Matt's Place' did not provide coverage, it would cost about 20 x $300= $6000 per year.
Hmmm. $72,000 versus $6000. And the employees would still be covered with insurance. And the company saves $66,000. A small business. Hmmm.
Any idea what is likely to happen?
On the other hand, I tend to like things that'll sever health care from employers, so maybe the end result will be positive.
