CNBC Notes Yet Another Obamacare 'Quirk': Many Employees Will Turn Down Employer Coverage and Head to the Exchanges

Maybe we should cue up the old classic "High Hopes," especially given its ironic title, every time one of these "unintended consequence of Obamacare" stories comes along. Instead of singing "Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant," we can all sing, "Oops, there goes another Obamacare 'quirk.'"

One of the latest "quirks," also described as a "weird" result of the progressive movement's March 2010 legislative handiwork gleefully signed by President Obama, arrived via CNBC Health Care Reporter Dan Mangan on Tuesday. As predicted by many center-right analysts several years ago, it will make financial sense for quite a few employees to turn down their employers' health care coverage and move to the subsidized, government-run Obamacare exchanges. If enough employees start doing that — given the financial consequences, thousands if not millions will — many employers will have even more incentive than they already have to jettison their plans completely. Imagine that (bolds are mine):

Obamacare penalty: Your family could pay more for insurance

Just imagine saying this to your boss: "Don't offer me health insurance benefits."

Those apparently bizarre words might actually end up being uttered next year because of a quirk in Obamacare that could financially penalize a number of workers and their families.

That quirk means that for some people, it will be more economical to have an employer not offer health insurance subsidies for them and their families—and for the entire family to then instead be able to buy insurance with government subsidies on the Obamacare state health exchanges.

"For a lot of people, that may be a better deal," said Jonathan Wu, co-founder of the price-comparison site ValuePenguin.com. "We're talking like thousands of dollars."

Wu noted that companies might be able to shed health-care costs as a result of the quirk, too.

"Our analysis suggests that employees and employers across the country should sit down and discuss the potential merits of discontinuing employer-sponsored plans," ValuePenguin.com said in a new report. "The company would end up saving money while the employee would benefit from thousands of dollars in tax subsidies—a clear win-win for both parties."

Absolutely no one saw this coming ... oh, wait.

Via: Newsbusters

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