The High Price of Obamacare

Sheldon Richman reminds us that the high price we’ll be paying for Obamacare comes in many forms. First, are the explicit taxes such the Medicare tax hike on high levels of investment income, the “fees” on medical device and drug companies and the tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans (not implemented until 2018 so Obama can avoid the wrath of his union backers).

Additionally, are the “indirect” taxes resulting from higher prices we will be forced to pay for health insurance and medical care due to government orders.

Now we can see how ObamaCare will tax much of the middle class. Under the new law, everyone everyone will have to buy government-defined medical coverage or have it bought for him by his employer, reducing cash wages. Thus, anyone who would not have bought insurance or would have bought a less-expensive policy will pay an implicit tax.

But that’s not all. When government subsidizes demand, as ObamaCare will, prices rise. So under ObamaCare, everyone paying his own way will pay more for medical services (and insurance) than otherwise. That difference is a tax because it results from a government decree.