The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Health Care Reform:
Big Business Gets All the Breaks

Aug 19, 2013

The “Affordable Care Act” is supposed to go into effect in 2014–but NOT for big companies. “Larger employers” got a break from the federal government–they will not have to offer health coverage to their full-time employees until 2015.

Plenty of large employers, both for-profits like Walmart and non-profit institutions like colleges have already made sure their part-time employees have fewer hours so they can never qualify for any benefits.

But there is more. The law’s limit on patients’ out-of-pocket costs (deductibles and co-pays) will also be delayed until 2015, so that individuals will have to keep paying some outrageous amounts. The insurance companies and large employers have declared they are “not ready” to implement this change!

In addition, 21 states have so far refused to expand Medicaid to all those with incomes under 133% of the poverty level–another part of the new law.

The politicians have managed to cut the three main provisions of the Affordable Care law that would have helped the poor or cut into the profits of businesses and big insurance companies. Yet they march full-speed ahead on the requirement for every individual to buy insurance coverage, whether they can afford it or not.

It’s obvious whose interests the politicians had in mind when they passed this fake version of “national health insurance.”