There's been a lot of smoke blowing over the report by the Congressional Budget Office that Obamacare will result in millions of fewer people working. The CBO report said that as a result of Obamacare, over 2 million people would either seek less work or leave the labor market completely. While this appears to be simple common sense anywhere outside of Washington, the President denies that this would happen. Let's look at a real example using the government's own website heatlhcare.gov.
John and Mary live in Fort Myers, Florida. They are both 60 years old and earn $63,000 per year (about $9,0000 above the median US household income) They received a cancellation notice from Blue Cross and are thinking about buying a "bronze" healthcare plan from the healthcare.gov exchange. The premium for this plan is $1109/month -- $13,308 annually. Mary wonders what would happen if she stopped working at her part time job and they lost $3000/year in income. Luckily healthcare.gov supplies the answer. They are now eligible for a government subsidy and their premium drops to $311.
Mary is not a math whiz, but even she can do this one.
Lost income due to quitting her job -$3000
Income and payroll taxes saved +$700
Healthcare premium saved +$9576
Net benefit to quitting +$7276
In other words, the government will pay Mary $7276 to quit her job and send a bill to her neighbors who are still working for over $10,000. What do you think Mary will do? Who do you believe is correct about the impact of Obamacare -- the President or the CBO?
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