Employers have been complaining about the penalty, saying it will reduce the number of people they hire and cause them to reduce employee hours. Even economists and commentators supporting the law acknowledge that per-employee penalties reduce hiring by raising the cost of employment.
Economists have traditionally recognized that it hardly matters whether a tax is levied on employers or on employees, especially in the long run. In the employee-tax case, the employee pays the tax directly. In the employer-tax case, the employee pays the tax indirectly through reduced pay
employment, employer costs and employee take-home pay would be essentially the same if the government levied a $3,000 fine on workers... rather than levying the fine on employers
Large businesses can supposedly afford $3,000 per employee, while many employees could not afford another $3,000 bite out of their paychecks. Like it or not, economics’ equivalence results tells us employees will have to afford what amounts to a tax on them beginning in 2015
The ultimate result will be less full-time employment
the premium assistance plan sharply penalizes full-time employment in favor of part-time employment
labor-market distortions are a common feature of several significant parts of the act and are an important part of what has happened in our labor market
(Excerpt) Read more at economix.blogs.nytimes.com ...
