Waiting for 'Obamacare'

American companies will have another year to meet the new requirements set out by the health care reform. This delay will most likely not be the last.

The news of the extension, which took a lot of people by surprise, was discretely announced to the public on the White House’s blog at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Companies employing more than 50 full-time employees must offer health insurance coverage. This measure will be phased in starting Jan. 1, 2014 and will become mandatory on Jan. 1, 2015.

Republicans, who dream about the failure of President Obama’s flagship law, have had a field day thanks to the delay. Indeed, this is a major concession for Democrats — Obama has to concede to the reality that companies are reluctant or unwilling to implement the new measure. The majority of big companies already offer health insurance coverage to their employees; it is mostly small and medium-sized companies that have been in the line of fire. Apparently, some companies were even ready to bend over backward in order not to pass the critical threshold of employing more than 50 full-time employees: Not only are companies no longer recruiting, but they are also reducing work hours and laying off employees. These are highly unwanted consequences, as much for the U.S. economy as for “unimportant workers,” which “Obamacare” is supposed to help.

The Obama administration says that it wishes to give companies more time to comply with the law. The risk is that the situation will be the same in a year’s time, with employers that are just as opposed to paying their employees’ insurance premiums as they are to paying fines ($2,000 per employee), which they will be required to pay if they do not offer this social benefit.

In the meantime, thousands of employees who should have been covered will swell the ranks of Americans who are not insured and must purchase a health insurance policy themselves. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, every American will be subject to an individual health insurance mandate. Each state must create a sort of online public market by Oct. 1, 2013, but there is every reason to believe that some states will not be ready by then or not in a position to carry out all the necessary procedures. Between the people who have become disheartened with taking out an insurance policy and those who do not even try, the Internal Revenue Service will have its plate full next year.

This is without taking into account people who have fallen through the cracks. The Affordable Care Act, like its name indicates, it supposed to render treatment more accessible. However, studies have shown that policyholders could see the cost of their insurance premiums rise. In addition, it seems that that number of insurers willing to take part in public markets is lower than predicted in some regions.

There is no doubt that every American citizen should be covered by an acceptable health insurance policy, but there is a long and bumpy road ahead before this is implemented. The opposition is so strong that many people wonder whether “Obamacare” will one day be considered a landmark in social progress or merely a thorn in America’s side and a reason for disagreement.