Ripple effect of employer mandate delay seen on policies, politics

Jul 16 2013

Politico reports on how the Obama administration's decision may create some difficulties for employers. Other media outlets detail how Republicans will try to capitalize on it this week on Capitol Hill.

Politico: Mandate Delay A 'Full Time' Headache For Employers
Restaurants and other employers essentially got an extra year to push for Obamacare changes when the administration delayed the law's employer mandate. But it isn't as good as it sounds. The decision to delay the mandate until 2015 left two big sticky issues standing in the way for employers: a lowered sense of urgency in Congress to enact the changes they want and sharp divisions among House Republicans over how to approach the law (Cunningham, 7/15).

The Hill: Week Ahead: GOP Focuses On Employer Mandate Delay
Congressional Republicans this week will continue trying to capitalize on the Obama administration's decision to delay part of ObamaCare. The House is set to vote this week on bills to delay both the employer mandate and the individual mandate (Baker, 7/15).

Fox News: House Republicans To Vote On ObamaCare, Say Obama's Delay Of Employer Mandate Unfair
House Republicans will vote this week to delay the part of ObamaCare requiring Americans to buy health insurance by next year, arguing that President Obama recently delaying the part of the law requiring employers to offer health insurance is a corporate favor that slights struggling, average Americans. In announcing the vote last week, House Speaker John Boehner said the Republican-controlled chamber also will vote to delay the so-called employer mandate because such decisions require congressional authority, then rattled off a list of reasons why delaying only the employer mandate is unfair (7/14).

And how the initial advertising campaign is sidestepping the issue of the mandate --

Politico: Obamacare's Missing Mandate
The massive coast-to-coast campaign to get people to sign up for Obamacare is light on mentions of one central element: the widely disliked individual mandate. Poll after poll has found that Americans don't like being told they have to get insurance or face a penalty. So the groups doing outreach don't plan to draw much attention to it. ... The early stages of the enrollment push has been all honey and no vinegar (Millman, 7/13).