Republicans have long lambasted the requirement under the Affordable Care Act that mandates businesses with over 50 or more full-time workers to provide health insurance. And lately, the right has found an unlikely group of allies in their call to scrap that part of the law: Liberals.
The so-called "employer mandate" won't go into effect until 2015; implementation has been delayed twice already. But critics say that it puts too much pressure on small businesses, and point to the rise of the part-time workforce in the country as a result of the requirement. And some left-leaning supporters of the Affordable Care Act are beginning to agree, like the Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund, both liberal think tanks. Most Democrats in Congress, though, are staying out of the fight, but a few, like West Virginia Secretary of State and Senate candidate Natalie Tennant, has been vocal about her opposition.
Should the employer mandate be repealed? How would that affect the economics of the Affordable Care Act?
Guests:
Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the achievement of quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans
Linda Blumberg, Senior Fellow at the Health Policy Center at The Urban Institute, a liberal-leaning nonprofit social and economic think tank based in DC