In addition to checking the verbiage of a new bill, always check the “Fiscal Note” part of the analysis – how much is this going to cost tax payers. I long ago posted what the Medicaid Expansion was eventually going to cost us as Obamacare is wound down. And now, the NH GOP elected officials in the House and Senate are basically legislating a close form of Obamacare’s Individual Mandate for this Paid Family Leave Act – you WILL be mandated to participate and your wages will be docked if you don’t know how to opt-out (and the bureaucratic nonsense that will be involved) – HB628 is going to do the same thing. Three things:
- It is being presented as something that is NEEDED to attract younger workers and families
- It is completely being marketed as self-paying
- It is being LIED about in that the State of NH is saying that there are no Free Market alternatives or offerings
My rebuttal:
- If it really is THAT needed, why aren’t more companies offering it (a sneak preview for #3)? Why not just let individual companies, or consortiums thereof, offer it themselves as part of their benefit packages. Given that many don’t, there obviously isn’t that much of a demand for it, is there?
- Why are Republicans acting like Democrats in legislating and voting as if this was a “failure of the marketplace”?
- Why are Republicans acting in concert with Democrats in enlarging State Government – both with headcount (these things don’t just run themselves, do they?) and expense?
- And they ARE lying about the “fact” that Marketplace doesn’t offer such an insurance policy.
The Insurance Department does not believe there are any companies offering insurance benefits similar to those being contemplated by this bill. The Department indicates the bill would have no impact on the premium tax or the Department’s operations. The Department assumes the program will be administered by the Department of Employment Security and not subject to Insurance Department oversight.
Guess they never asked Concord Real Estate Developer (and NH GOP Committeeman) Steve Duprey:
Costs could be lowered as well for both the employers and the employees, which Duprey said he favors. Duprey said that he already has a similar program in place at his company, but the state program could cut premium costs by more than half. “I think this would not be successful if it had an employer burden,” he said.
No, it will actually just take from the employee – and not the employer (although there will be unfunded mandates as government will force companies to handle the overhead of paperwork). But that’s not the point. If Duprey already has such coverage, and if this bill is to get the Government into ANOTHER facet of the insurance industry (and, by dint of using taxpayer monies, crowd out the Private Marketplace suppliers) WHERE DID HE GET HIS CURRENT POLICY FROM?
Here’s that Fiscal Note (in part):
The Department estimates the following staff and costs to develop, test, and launch the program:
The Insurance Department does not believe there are any companies offering insurance benefits similar to those being contemplated by this bill. The Department indicates the bill would have no impact on the premium tax or the Department’s operations. The Department assumes the program will be administered by the Department of Employment Security and not subject to Insurance Department oversight.
So ask yourself – why should one support the Republican Party when it acts like the Democrats and uses its majorities to jam this crap down our throats?
