With the House passage of AHCRA, does that mean the purpose of business, especially small business, is returning to the days of providing goods and/or services to the economy for the purpose of economic gains?

Well, for the past 7 years you would think the purpose of US business is to provide health care for its employees, which has kept a number of businesses from growing in an effort to avoid the 50 full time employee equivalent rules.  Others are limiting their employees’ hours to less than thirty hours per week.

Other businesses, especially in the fast food industry, had provided a very limited health insurance for their employees, which provided for health care access to treat minor illnesses and injuries that are also designed to discourage sick employees from coming to work with a communicable disease.  

So, now the 40 hour per week, plus overtime jobs are closer to being back, even some with overtime, and the employer is on his way to being able to offer health care benefits as he sees fit, with some minor limits on anti-discrimination policies.

It was interesting to hear Liberals for years criticize the employment related health care, but then 7 years ago, after years of criticizing the practice (which began during the WWII wage-price control era), they decided to force providing health care to employees, with the government planning to usurp the employer’s role in selecting an appropriate plan.

It’s impressive to see some of the cheered irrational programs of the Obama years approaching their final day of existence.

Philip A. Erickson, CPA