What was it that former Speaker Pelosi said about her party's unwieldy new healthcare beast, again?
Right again, Nancy! Surprise:
A major provision of the healthcare reform law designed to prevent businesses from dropping coverage for their workers could inadvertently leave families without access to subsidized health insurance. The problem is a huge headache for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, because it could leave families unable to buy affordable health insurance when the healthcare law requires that everyone be insured starting in 2014. Some of the administration’s closest allies on healthcare reform warn this situation could dramatically undercut support for the law, which already is unpopular with many voters and contributed to Democrats losing the House in the 2010 midterm elections.
At issue is a so-called “firewall” in the law that denies subsidies to workers whose employers offer quality, affordable coverage...In calculating the bill’s cost last year, Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) took the law to mean that employers and their families aren’t eligible for subsidies as long as the individual plan is affordable — regardless of the price of the family plan. This means the costs to an employee for covering his or her family could be too high to afford for many working families.?
What a windfall for middle class families: Saddled with sky-high, unaffordable family coverage rates, and "socked" with billions in new taxes. Thanks, Obamacare!
It's also worth mentioning that this is hardly the first unhappy surprise we've identified in this sucker. Since Harry Reid is carping about the "worst" legislation in the nation's history these days, might I suggest a second look at his party's grand "accomplishment"? I'll close with a quick comparison: The bill that Reid dubbed one of the very worst of all time is supported by 66 percent of the public. His legacy legislation? It garners 54 percent support...for its repeal.