ObamaCare Already Resulting In Cost-Shifting: Strikingly Is The Word Used By IBD

Investor's Business Daily is reporting:

Spending on health benefits in service occupations and among small firms exposed to ObamaCare mandates shrank over the past year, new Labor Department data show.

Although employers face penalties in 2014 if they fail to offer affordable coverage, this decline in spending on health benefits shows that they're finding ways to shift some of ObamaCare's looming costs back to the government.

Strikingly, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that health benefit increases came to a standstill in service occupations after the first quarter of 2010 — when ObamaCare became law.

The linked article discusses cost-shifting to the government. For investors this is good news. The more cost-shifting, the better for corporations. Combine that with shell companies in Ireland, and some of these multi-nationals should do very well: tax avoidance and health-care cost shifting will be two nice arrows in the CPA quivers.

But there are other issues which we've been discussing this for quite some time now. Cost shifting is just one, and Illinois and Chicago will show "us" how it's done.

My hunch is that when all is said and done, health care benefits that are actually, legally required by ObamaCare are minimal, and "legal beagles" will sort out these minimum requirements. Premiums across the board will be based on "Cadillac" care though most plans will offer minimum benefits required by the act.