Originally posted by @John D.:
@Cal C. most companies/employers are paying less, even without the "handout" some individuals are receiving. And the Milton Friedman quote seems in no way related to the conversation.
Please provide evidence that "most companies/employers are paying less." That is the opposite of all available information I've seen. Here is just one example Kaiser Family Foundation 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Please look at Exhibit B, notice how costs have risen 27% in the five years since the passage of Obamacare, similarly to the previous five years. However, when you compare those increase in costs to relative rises in inflation and worker's earnings, you'll see not only that health costs have gone up, but they are taking a larger piece of worker's incomes.
Indeed, there is no evidence of the $2,500 reduction in annual healthcare costs talked about by the plan's namesake.
Since we are talking about free stuff (handouts to get people to participate in Obamacare) the citation is entirely relevant. Somebody somewhere (or more accurately sometime since it will be future generations which will be paying for a lot of this) is always paying for the supposed free stuff. The regulations and uncertainty associated with Obamacare have had a dampening effect on job growth, as evidenced by the low labor participation rate, granted there were a lot of regulatory initiatives started under this and the previous administration which contributed also.
