palani
6th January 2014, 06:17 PM
The Obamacare Effect: Creating the Millennial Precariat Class
http://www.mainstreet.com/article/family/family-health/obamacare-effect-creating-millennial-precariat-class?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
Is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increasing the size of the 'precariat' - especially among Millennials? The early indications are that it is.
For those unfamiliar with the word, "precariat" is a portmanteau of the words "precarious" and "proletariat." It is used to describe those who have little or no job security; these folks very often work at jobs for which they are overqualified.
The depressed economy hit Millennials hard. Unemployment among Millennials exceeds the national average — between 12% and 16% as opposed to the general 7%. It put many in the precariat class.
Obamacare, for all its noble intentions, seems to have made this worse.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently said during an interview with a cable news network that Obamacare is hurting his employees. The mandate has created an incentive among employers, he alleges, to hire fewer full time workers.
The plight of Mackey's workers is not unusual. Many employers are changing full time workers to part time to avoid the necessity of coping with the health care mandate. Many companies eliminated health insurance benefits for the same reason. It was cheaper for them to pay the fine for not offering insurance for their employees and letting the employees buy through the exchanges or enroll in Medicaid.
Predictably, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a different opinion of the economic effects of Obamacare. It posted a video on its website quoting a gentleman by the name of Mark Sullivan.
"The Affordable Care Act, for me, was absolutely a job creator," Sullivan says. "I like to call it the entrepreneurial tax credit. I was able to browse through 76 plans and pick one that best fit my needs – which made it easy to figure out what was good for me. I found a plan that was exactly what I wanted. Now, I get to invest more in my business and less into health insurance."
http://www.mainstreet.com/article/family/family-health/obamacare-effect-creating-millennial-precariat-class?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
Is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increasing the size of the 'precariat' - especially among Millennials? The early indications are that it is.
For those unfamiliar with the word, "precariat" is a portmanteau of the words "precarious" and "proletariat." It is used to describe those who have little or no job security; these folks very often work at jobs for which they are overqualified.
The depressed economy hit Millennials hard. Unemployment among Millennials exceeds the national average — between 12% and 16% as opposed to the general 7%. It put many in the precariat class.
Obamacare, for all its noble intentions, seems to have made this worse.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently said during an interview with a cable news network that Obamacare is hurting his employees. The mandate has created an incentive among employers, he alleges, to hire fewer full time workers.
The plight of Mackey's workers is not unusual. Many employers are changing full time workers to part time to avoid the necessity of coping with the health care mandate. Many companies eliminated health insurance benefits for the same reason. It was cheaper for them to pay the fine for not offering insurance for their employees and letting the employees buy through the exchanges or enroll in Medicaid.
Predictably, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a different opinion of the economic effects of Obamacare. It posted a video on its website quoting a gentleman by the name of Mark Sullivan.
"The Affordable Care Act, for me, was absolutely a job creator," Sullivan says. "I like to call it the entrepreneurial tax credit. I was able to browse through 76 plans and pick one that best fit my needs – which made it easy to figure out what was good for me. I found a plan that was exactly what I wanted. Now, I get to invest more in my business and less into health insurance."