By John F. Di Leo –

The Obama administration, along with their PelosiReidian enablers

in the United States Congress, gave a great deal of thought to the timing of various events in the Obamacare process.

They passed it through the House when the American public was distracted by the massacre at Fort Hood… they passed it through the Senate when the nation was distracted by Christmas Eve celebrations… they designed it so that the taxes would begin to be collected immediately, but the benefits wouldn’t start for four years, so they could pretend to stretch ten years of taxes to fund six years of benefits.  
 
Of course this accounting sham would collapse in its second decade, but that didn’t matter to them; once it was fully effective, they were sure it would never be repealed, no matter how incredibly destructive it turned out to be. And they may be right; that window of opportunity for a second chance at redemption is rapidly closing.

With all their concentration on timing, however, they neglected to consider one key, unchangeable moment, now locked into the American corporate world:  healthcare open enrollment sessions are almost always in October, as employees can choose their plans for the following year.  And that all happens now, within weeks or even days of casting our ballots.

The Annual Presentation:

Most companies now offer a presentation to their employees – the larger the company, the more presentations – at which Human Resources professionals explain the options for next year, the changes from the prior year’s program, what it’s going to cost, what the employees need to do by the end of the open enrollment period.

There will be changes this year, many changes.

If you like using the Flexible Spending Account option

– the program of paying your medical, dental and vision bills with pretax dollars, you’ll see a big change, as the old $5000/year maximum shrinks to $2500 for 2013.  This doesn’t matter to most of us…  most people just use a few hundred dollars per year in this use-it-or-lose-it account to cover doctor visit copays and prescription copays.  But to those with a couple of kids who need braces, or those with expensive vision work, or other surgeries planned, the loss of that $2500 means an increase in the price of those services… an increase that goes directly into the government’s coffers.   The hundred dollars you pay the orthodontist or other surgeon won’t change; he’s still getting the same hundred dollars.  But now that it’s paid with post-tax money, you’ll be paying another ten, twenty, or thirty percent of it to the government.  It’s a windfall for Washington.

Continue reading Di Leo: ON HEALTHCARE REFORM, THE DEVIL IS IN THE SPIN→