On the issue of disincentives to work, “job lock” and Obamacare, TPM Reader EH has a story about how this actually plays out in real peoples’ lives …
This whole idea that the ACA now creates a disincentive to work makes me physically angry. I’ve been arguing with conservatives since its passage that this was a feature of the law – not a bug. My wife has a genetic disease, Cystic Fibrosis, and until the ACA my career and job options were completely limited by where I could obtain the best group health care coverage.
I’ve left jobs because of a change in insurance. I never could have gone out on my own doing IT consulting (my field) because we never before would have been guaranteed health insurance even if I could make hundreds of thousands of dollars more than I do currently. I could never even consider small companies because we would blow their small group rating through the roof. As you eloquently stated, now the economy can operate in a MORE capitalist manner because people in my situation can best allocate their skills and labor rather then being tied to a job just for insurance. Many people not in this situation, or clueless conservatives, have no idea how powerful a feature this is of the ACA.
