The Obamacare mandate for families to cover dependents until 26 has been found to decrease family income by $1,200.
+ Regulatory
Kerry Goff | Feb 19, 2016

Mandate to cover dependents until 26 slashes family income by $1,200

A recent report by Stanford and Harvard University researchers details how the mandate to cover dependents until 26 years of age is costing American families more than what was disclosed.

“The report dispels the myth that government can give Americans something for nothing,” Michael Hamilton, managing editor of health care news at The Heartland Institute, recently told Patient Daily. “Even the seemingly benign dependent care mandate, one of the first provisions of the Affordable Care Act to take effect, has proven malignant by rewarding many hard-working breadwinners with an average pay cut of $1,200 per year.”

Hamilton explained that this pay cut is inevitable because premiums cannot stay static and employers are having to make decisions about how they are going to adjust to the rises in premiums.

“This is because forcibly adding people to company insurance plans causes insurers to raise premiums, and companies pass that cost onto employees in the form of reduced wages,” he said.

Hamilton further explained that despite its inevitability, these pay cuts are not practical. Families are suffering because $1,200 per year is a considerable amount to give up.

“The mandate is not just expensive for families,” Hamilton said. “It's intrusive.”

Hamilton argues that the age extension is an expensive smoke screen. The age of the dependent was raised, but the costs got higher without full disclosure.

“The dependent care mandate has the appearance of supporting families by raising the age children can remain on their parents' insurance plans from 19 to 25,” he said. “Instead, it essentially charges families $7,200 over six years without telling them.”

He also explained that if families want to spend money on dependents over the age of 19, it should be by choice rather than government mandate.

“The mandate silently robs families of their right and ability to make those financial decisions,” Hamilton said. “And not only families. The study found that wage-earners who are not supporting dependents are absorbing some of the wage reductions.”

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