The Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise colloquially known as Obamacare, doesn’t encourage you to get a full-time job. In fact, Obamacare actually penalizes you if you obtain full-time employment because you’ll get more money by working less, says a new study.
According to the Mercatus Center, the unintended consequence and broader effect of the Affordable Care Act is that it reduces the nation’s workforce by three percent, or approximately four million people.
Researchers say that Obamacare inserts a $2,000 penalty for every full-time worker imposed on large businesses (companies with a minimum of 50 workers) that don’t provide their staff with health insurance.
“The ACA’s employment taxes create strong incentives to work less. The health subsidies’ structure will put millions in a position in which working part-time (29 hours or fewer, as defined by the ACA) will yield more disposable income than working their normal full-time schedule,” the report stated. “Due to this penalty’s unfavorable tax treatment, it is effectively a $3,000 employment tax and can be expected to reduce full-time employment.”
Ostensibly, the idea of working more to make less will impose a greater effect on female workers.
This is because women, despite their marital status, are more likely to cut back on their working hours to under 30 hours per week since they account for a greater percentage of those working between 30 and 35 hours. Therefore, they can work fewer than 29 hours with very little change in pay.
In 2010, United States President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law. It was the biggest overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system since 1965 when Medicare and Medicaid were established. The aim was to get more people insured through the means of penalties, taxes and medical coverage subsidies.
Despite the massive change, pretty much all of Congress did not read the 2,000-page bill. Nancy Pelosi famously stated that you had to pass the bill first in order to find out what was inside.
Because of all of the scandals surrounding Obamacare, it is very unpopular among Americans. According to Real Clear Politics, nearly half (49 percent) of the country is against the ACA.
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