60 Million Americans Will Lose Employer-Sponsored Coverage

[Dori]

Manufacturers President: 60 Million Americans Will Lose Employer-Sponsored Coverage

National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmon, in his annual State of Manufacturing address today in Houston, Texas:

The health care law isn’t supposed to affect manufacturers with fewer than 50 employees, but I know one who was affected. Staub Manufacturing Solutions in Dayton, Ohio, which only has 22 employees, saw a 21 percent increase in health care costs last year, and it’s projecting a 91 percent increase this year.

The company’s president made this very obvious statement: “The Affordable Care Act is far from affordable.”

If we don’t do something to fix the law, more than 60 million fewer American workers will have employer-sponsored coverage in 10 years. That will be the new reality for our workforce.

Assume for a moment that Timmon is overstating the impact and overestimating how many companies will choose to pay the fine and leave their employees to shop for insurance on the exchanges; let’s even say that he’s doubling the number of Americans who will lose their employer-sponsored insurance. That would still be an additional 30 million people losing their insurance — and in quite a few of those cases, those Americans probably like their plans and don’t want to change.

He continues:

The law, as implemented, will hurt manufacturers and their employees. Take, for instance, what you are facing in additional fees and costs over the next three years: $22.2 billion. That figure is simply added cost—it won’t get that mom on your assembly line one more pediatrician visit or one more prescription filled for your shop floor manager’s family.

[FlaGator]

I think the guy is being optimistic.