The unintended consequences of Obamacare

President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act

What do these disparate items have in common?

          -  9.9 horsepower outboard motors

          -  50-seat regional jets

          -  29 hour work week

All are unintended consequences of government actions.

For instance, the great state of Maine, as well as other jurisdictions, require that 10 horsepower outboard motors and above be registered (and therefore taxed). What was the reaction of manufacturers? Of course, they detuned their 10 horsepower models slightly and rebranded them as 9.9 hp. Now, in the marketplace, 10 horsepower motors are extremely rare and 9.9 models plentiful.

The Federal Aviation Agency has a safety regulation (FAR 121 section 391) that specifies the following:

“For airplanes having a seating capacity of more than 50 but less than 101 passengers – two flight attendants [are required]”

Airlines could save a lot of money by using only one flight attendant in a 50 seat aircraft. And indeed they did, ordering the Bombardier CRJ200 in the 50 seat configuration in great numbers even though the aircraft was capable of carrying 52 passengers.

And finally, the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) defines full time employees as those working 30 hours or more, and requires that those employees must be provided with full health insurance coverage.

“For purposes of section 4980H, a “full-time employee” is an employee who is employed on average at least 30 hours per week.”

So, once again, the reaction of the marketplace is predictable. The Huffington Post reports that the “Community College Of Allegheny County will cut the hours for some instructors to avoid paying for their health insurance coverage under new Affordable Care Act rules.” CCAC President Alex Johnson announced that they will be cutting the hours of 400 employees to less than 30 hours to avoid paying for health insurance, thereby saving $6 million.

But the surprising thing here is the comments posted in response to the Huffington Post article by their audience of typically liberal readers. Here is an example, directed at CCAC:

“If you can't afford to pay for employee benefits, don't start a business. Period.”

So let’s analyze this sentiment. This particular individual, representing the voting bloc that reelected President Obama, is advocating for higher unemployment.

How about this one?

“This is being portrayed as a failure of Obamacare, but it's more a failure of inadequate financing of state run higher education.”

This Obama voter is calling for higher tuition rates, a burden that parents and students already find intolerable.

And CCAC is only the tip of the iceberg. Similar stories are emerging regarding many other companies including Walmart and numerous others. For instance, the New American reports:

“According to the Orlando Sentinel, Darden Restaurants, Inc., operator of casual dining chains such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and LongHorn Steakhouse, is doing just that [reducing hours].”

The Affordable Care Act was validated by the Supreme Court and cemented by the election of 2012. The only surprise is that Mr. Obama’s supporters are surprised by its unintended consequences. Apparently, the 1,017 page bill should have been read before being voted into law.

Many liberals are now calling for additional legislation to prohibit companies from reducing hours to avoid health insurance costs. Proof only that big government always leads to even bigger government.