Random Comment On Far-Reaching Impact of ObamaCare

Regular readers know that the blog was one of the first to note that until ObamaCare came along, the US had no definition or regulation or whatever for "an official work week" as did France. But with ObamaCare, the "official" work week for all companies with more than 50 employees* has now been defined as 30 hours by the government.**

Something else that I have not yet seen talked about anywhere is the need for all Americans to file federal income tax form every year due to ObamaCare. I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that if you have no income, none whatsoever, you don't have to file an annual income tax form. But with ObamaCare everyone has to "prove" to the government they are covered by an insurance program, and the process is overseen by the IRS. I could be wrong on this, and folks will correct me, but that's how I see it right now.

So, at least two far-reaching impacts of ObamaCare: a) an "official" work week across the entire US, 30 hours = full-time employment; and, b) everyone, regardless of income, or lack thereof, will need to file with the IRS. This, of course, is huge. The federal government is probably lacking data on a lot of folks; this will fill in that gap.

It turns out, of all things, there is another, a third impact of ObamaCare. From the Wall Street Journal today:

Getting grown kids out of the house these days is hard enough. Nudging them off the family cellphone plan—or out of an iTunes or Netflix account—can be even harder.

For increasing numbers of parents, the question of how much support to provide an adult child is no longer just about rent subsidies or car payments. The calculation is now complicated by the new maze of subscriptions that allow even far-flung family members (with the right password) to piggyback on a parental account well into their working lives.

When it comes to the digital apron strings, awkward relationship moments can ensue as parents, say, find themselves chasing down grown children about data limits. Now that federal health-care legislation lets adult kids stay on their parents' insurance plans longer, it seems 26 is the new 18.

This is not about Netflix or about digital aprons. This is about the need to have children move out of their parents' home at age 18. ObamaCare prolongs adolescence well into the late 20's. 

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* Incidentally, due to the quirkiness of the law, the IRS defines full-time employment, not the employer. If an employer has 100 workers each working 20 hours/week, the employer thinks she has 100 part-time workers and not subject to ObamaCare.  Wrong. The IRS divides the total number of hours worked by these 100 employees (in this case, 2,000 hours) by 120, the number of 30 hours in a 4-week period. 2,000/120 = 17. The employer has the equivalent of 17 full-time workers for ObamaCare purposes. If this is the entire workforce, I do not know if the employer is required to provide ObamaCare health insurance. Does the employer with 100 employees (though all "part-time" by the employers' definition) exceed the 50-employee threshold, or does the IRS "see" only 17 employees. My hunch is that the employer exceeds the 50-employee threshold with 100 employees, albeit all working under 20 hours, and that she will have to provide health care for "17-full-time-equivalents."

**  The 30-hour threshold has other ramifications also. It is only a matter of time before employers will be required to pay overtime for any employee working longer than 30 hours/week, the "official" definition of full-time employment. This will end up in courts before it's all over.

Again, this is beyond my comfort level with correct interpretation of ObamaCare, but within the guidelines of the blog, as noted at the Welcome/Disclaimer, it is appropriate conversation.