Everybody Loves This Health Reform Delay

The latest health reform delay seems to be universally popular. The Obama administration announced this week that the requirement for businesses with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance has been delayed by a year to 2014.

Businesses love it because they have more time to get their systems in line and requirements will be better defined by then (hopefully). The Republicans love it because it gives them one more banner to wave in their campaign to declare Obamacare a mess. Democrats love it because it pushes off a potential campaign issue and gives the administration time to get its house in order.

What about employees? Says Professor Robert Blendon of the Harvard School of Public Health:

The delay will raise an issue of fairness: why would the administration give a one-year grace period to employers and not to employees? This sends a signal politically that things are not going well and there may be problems ahead.

Oh well. President Obama seems to be taking this all in stride. As he said last month, “When you’re implementing a program this large, there will be some glitches.” Time will tell.

Click here to read more in the Washington Post and here to read more in the New York Times.

Expect Delays, photograph © Viktoria B / flickr

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