At a presentation made to Southwest in July 2011, benefits consultant Mercer told the company that under the new system it could expect to pay $414 million a year to provide health care for workers, or drop coverage entirely and instead pay $111 million in penalties. ----------------------- Pay $115 million in penalties and get nothing. No one gets anything. The employees don't have health care and for the pleasure of not providing that benefit the employer pays $115 million. Yes I understand the employer will save money, somehow the co is going to get screwed in the fine print.
Well, if it's all about the "Bottom Line", then dropping the insurance and paying the fines is the way to go. However, most major corporations still see the value in offering benefits to their employees, so as to avoid losing valuable "human capital." As a valued employee (say middle-management and above), will people stay at a company that doesn't provide them with health, life, dental, LTD, etc.?? But what happens if more companies start playing the "drop and pay" game??
Maybe the excess of unemployed workers makes it so that dropping health insurance willl only get grumbles... not people quitting in droves. And even if they do, there are lots of unemployeds to take their places... with or without benefits. Are these fines the ones imposed by Obamacare?
ObamaCare is "Unconstitutional"...just ask Boner and his compadres. So true, employers have WAYYY more leverage than they did five years ago. Faced with the choice between a $50-100k/year income and no benefits, or no income and no benefits, what are most working stiffs likely to choose?? Guaranteed that the top earners in the companies will continue to get their benes paid for. Why else would they bang the boss, and then pick up his Bentley from the detail shop afterwards?? Friggin' "Corporate America" and their "Greed is Good" mentality...:eek:
This is what they planned to get that single payer system. Why pay the premiums when you can pay the fine that is a fraction of the cost? Before you know it, we're all in the system and then THOSE rates go up!
Why pay the premiums when you can pay the fine that is a fraction of the cost? ----------------- It is immoral and wrong and is this how we want to do business in this country? For the gov't to motivate a corporation to screw the employee out of an existing benefit.