ObamaCare and Boeing

Here's another example of an "unintended consequence" of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare).

Boeing told employees the bad news: ObamaCare means some NONUNION workers will pay significantly more for health care.

From the Associated Press, via ABC News:

Aerospace giant Boeing is joining the list of companies that say the new health care law could have a potential downside for their workers.

In a letter mailed to employees late last week, the company cited the overhaul as part of the reason it is asking some 90,000 nonunion workers to pay significantly more for their health plan next year. A copy of the letter was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

"The newly enacted health care reform legislation, while intended to expand access to care for millions of uninsured Americans, is also adding cost pressure as requirements of the new law are phased in over the next several years," wrote Rick Stephens, Boeing's senior vice president for human resources.

Boeing is the latest major employer to signal a shift for its workers as a result of the legislation, which expands coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people and ranks as President Barack Obama's top domestic achievement. Earlier, McDonald's had raised questions about whether a limited benefit plan that serves some 30,000 of its employees would remain viable under the law. That prompted the administration to issue McDonald's a waiver from certain requirements under the law.

Spokeswoman Karen Forte said the Boeing plan is more generous than what its closest competitors offer, and the company was concerned it would get hit with a new tax under the law.

The tax on so-called "Cadillac" health plans doesn't take effect until 2018, but employers are already beginning to assess their exposure because it is hefty: at 40 percent of the value above $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family plan.

...Boeing said annual deductibles and copayments will increase for all its plans next year.

Deductibles, the share of medical costs that employees pay annually before their plan kicks in, will go up to $300 for individuals, an increase of $100. For families, the new deductible will be $900, an increase of $300.

This isn't what Obama and the Democrats promised.

Individuals and families are paying more for health care, although we were told it was supposed to reduce costs.

Russ Feingold brags about voting for ObamaCare. He's proud of that accomplishment. He has the audacity to ask Wisconsinites to vote for him because he supported ObamaCare even though we told him we didn't want it.

Feingold didn't listen. Ignoring the will of his constituents, he voted for the disastrous legislation. He did his part to help Obama and his party make it the law of the land, forcing it down our throats.

Top 10 Failures of ObamaCare After Six Months

1. Premiums Have Gone Up

2. You Can’t Keep Your Current Plan And Doctor

3. National Budget Deficit Is Worse

4. More Children Are Uninsured

5. Small Business Taxes Increased

6. Small Businesses Health Care Burden Increased

7. More Government Spending

8. Senior Citizens Suffer from Medicare Cuts

9. Minorities Get Worse Health Care

10. Democrats Losing Elections

The only item that's remotely positive on that list is that some Democrats have already lost elections because of ObamaCare and more are poised to lose on November 2nd.

Feingold voted for it and Tom Barrett wholeheartedly supported it. Like so many of their Dem colleagues, they are behind in the polls.

Obama and his party predicted that passing government-run health care would guarantee their future success in elections. How wrong they were!

The New York Times uses the term "unintended consequences" to describe the fall-out from the new law, like Boeing making its employees pay dramatically more for health care coverage.

Those rate increases really aren't "unintended."

They were fully expected. In fact, they were intended. Such increases would cause companies to adopt the government-run plan rather than stick with private insurance. That was always part of the strategy to eventually arrive at the single payer plan of the dreams of Obama and his comrades.