My aggravating year with ObamaCare

It’s not just young people older than 26 who are disproportionately and negatively affected by Obamacare. Another cohort that is affected is young people with families. I made the apparent mistake of belonging to this cohort, as well. This issue will hit the fan when the employer mandate is enforced. A big glitch in the law that has barely received any media attention is that family coverage does not have to be affordable for employees. Instead, it only has to be affordable for a single person. The ACA says health insurance need only be affordable for a single person and spouses need not be covered by employer-offered insurance.

Further, I am reimbursed for my insurance through a federal grant (or at least I was), an arrangement that is being eliminated by the employer mandate. Basically, in 2016, the university will have to provide for my health insurance, and I will lose my current federal subsidies. The current family health insurance plan my employer provides currently costs between $13,000 and $15,000 annually, or approximately 30 percent of my gross annual income.

Because I will not be able to get reimbursed for this insurance, there is no conceivable way for me to afford it. Instead, I will have to get single coverage through my university and buy separate coverage for my wife and children. Most likely, I would have to put my children on Medicaid. It is hard to imagine that putting people on Medicaid is considered a success whereas providing good jobs is not. The university could try to cover the entire cost, which would likely lead to increases in college tuition. The University of North Carolina System, along with other universities, will have to make some tough decisions. Universities sometimes make choices based on their wallets, which the University of Virginia did, sharply increasing employee costs. Universities thrive on cheap labor, so the employer mandate is going to hurt them especially hard, making it more difficult for me to continue in academe.