December 2, 2013 (FRC) – Before Cyber Monday, it was Cyber Saturday for HealthCare.gov, as the President's deadline for fixing the website came and went without most of the improvements he promised. Of the “hundreds of problems” Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted to, many remain. According to insiders, a full 10% of the portal is still completely dysfunctional or worse, unfinished, leaving tens of thousands of consumers dangling without the insurance they were promised.
And while countless Americans wait for coverage in an online no man's land, the pain has been particularly acute for small businesses. What most people don't realize is that these smaller companies (less than 50 employees) have a separate track on the exchanges to help “ease costs” (or so the administration claimed). Twice, the White House has postponed the launch of the small business pool on HealthCare.gov — throwing the managers of these smaller operations into complete chaos as they try to make hiring and planning decisions for the upcoming year. Then, on Wednesday, while most Americans were busy stuffing their turkeys, the Obama administration was serving up another delay — this time for the entire small business exchange. HHS, which tried to bury the news under a mound of holiday trimmings, let it slip that the small business side of the website won't be ready for another year.
Unfortunately for these entrepreneurs, who were already struggling under the weight of ObamaCare, this announcement only adds to the uncertainty. Congressman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), just one of the outraged members, blasted the administration for putting the pinch on such an important segment of the economy. “In the midst of the angst… that small business and Americans feel about ObamaCare, today's news of yet another last minute delay is just more proof that the law is unworkable and bad for small businesses.” Graves went on to rage against the government's double standard. “If small firms failed to provide services this frequently,” he said, “they would be fired.”
Of course, like the administration's other “delays,” this decision was just as illegal — and just as politically motivated. Once again, the President acted out of complete lawlessness, having no authority to postpone the law's small business component until (surprise, surprise) after voters head to the polls next November.
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In the meantime, small business owners across the country are in a bind, forced to wait until (not-so-coincidentally) after those midterm elections to find out how high their health care premiums will be. Jody Manor, owner of the Bittersweet Catering Café, told reporters, “[The website's explanation] is all very confusing, and it didn't answer my main question — how much is it all going to cost?” She, like most entrepreneurs, is just trying to run a business in a tough economy, and instead, they're being caught up in a complicated web of paperwork and government bureaucracy. If small businesses didn't know how low they were on the administration's priority list, they do now.
And as Manor and others are realizing, the delay will cost them a lot more than time. Most companies were banking on the IRS's tax credit for small businesses that offer health insurance. Starting next year, the Washington Post points out, the credit is only available to “firms” that purchase plans through the new exchange — so if owners don't find a plan through HealthCare.gov (which the administration has made virtually impossible), they'll have to forfeit their tax relief to provide health care for their employees.
The President can talk about the website's progress all he wants, but no amount of technology can make up for the biggest ObamaCare errors of all: lost freedom, choices, consciences, and profits.
Reprinted with permission from FRC