Congress Passes Tweak To ACA’s Small Business Rules

The AP (10/2) reports that Congress yesterday approved “legislation aimed at preventing premium increases that some smaller businesses were expecting next year under President Barack Obama’s health care law.” Currently, the ACA defines small businesses as having up to 50 workers. That number increases to 100 on Jan. 1, 2016. The bill approved Thursday “would keep the small business definition at 50 workers but let states increase the number if they choose.”

        The New York Times (10/2, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports a White House “spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Obama would sign the bill, but she declined to discuss its substance.” According to the Times, recent comments “by administration officials suggested that they did not particularly like the legislation but could not stop the growing wave of bipartisan support for it.”

        According to National Journal (10/2, Subscription Publication), the Senate version was authored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Tim Scott (R-SC). Shaheen said in a statement after the bill’s passage, “This bill is a win for businesses across this country, a win for bipartisanship and I’m very pleased it’s headed to the President’s desk.”

        In an analysis piece, meanwhile, The Hill (10/2, Sullivan) notes the bill’s “drama-free” passage and considers whether it marks “a shift in the legislative debate” over the ACA. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) stated, “I do believe that this hopefully is the beginning of a lot of little fixes to a big, big law that’s not perfect.” According to the Wall Street Journal (10/2, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication), the bill’s passage could increase the likelihood that other changes to the law will be approved, such as a “Cadillac tax” repeal.

Economists Defend “Cadillac Tax” In Letter To Congress

The Washington Post (10/2, Johnson) reports in its “Wonkblog” that as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders “add to the chorus calling” for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost health plans, “a group of 101 economists from both sides of the aisle sent a letter [PDF] to Congressional leaders Thursday making an impassioned case for the law.” The economists argue that the tax, set to go into effect in 2018, will increase wages and other benefits as employers move away from compensating workers through overly generous health plans. The Post says economists have been “have been objecting to the unlimited exclusion of health benefits from taxation for decades,” and they see the Cadillac tax as a “necessary, if unpopular, step toward controlling health care spending.”

        CNBC (10/2) reports that the letter, sent to the Ways and Means and Finance committees of both chambers, “noted that the tax was included in the Affordable Care Act to address the ‘economically inefficient and regressive’ tax policy that allows the ‘unlimited exclusion of employer-financed health insurance from income and payroll taxes.’” The economists also warned that repealing the levy would add an estimated $91 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

        Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal (10/2, Armour, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports that while there is significant bipartisan support for scrapping the Cadillac tax, divisions among lawmakers could hinder efforts to change or eliminate the levy. Opponents of the tax remain at odds over how to offset revenue losses if it is repealed, and some Democrats are reluctant to support a measure that could be seen as an attack on the health law.

Karma( The Four Fives)

There was a man with four wives. He loved his fourth wife the most and took a great care of her and gave her the best.
He also loved his third wife and always wanted to show her off to his friends. However, he was always had a fear that she might runaway with some other man.
He loved his second wife too. Whenever he faced some problems, he always turned to his second wife and she would always help him out.
He did not love his first wife
though she loved him deeply, was very loyal to him and took great care of him. One day the man fell very ill and knew that he is going to die soon.
He told himself, "I have four wives with me. I will take one of them along with me when I die to keep company in my death."
Thus, he asked the fourth wife to die along with him and keep company. "No way!" she replied and walked away without another word.
He asked his third wife. She said "Life is so good over here. I'm going to remarry when you die".
He then asked his second wife. She said "I'm Sorry. I can't help you this time around. At the most I can only accompany you till your grave."
By now his heart sank and turned cold.
Then a voice called out: "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter
where you go." the man looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the man said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!"

Actually, we all have four wives in our lives.

a. The fourth wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we
lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when w die.

b. The third wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they
go to others.

c. the second wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they
had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is
up to the grave.

d. the first wife is our soul, neglected in our pursuit of material
wealth and pleasure. It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go!