Detroit is poised to become the largest American city to go bankrupt.
So what are politicians to do with city workers whose votes were guaranteed with the promise of lavish pension perks like free healthcare?
Obamacare exchanges, of course!
The retirees that cities like Detroit are trying to push into Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges could drive up the premiums in the exchanges and swell costs to the federal government, experts say.Detroit, which has filed for bankruptcy, is trying to reduce its liabilities by pushing retirees who are too young for Medicare onto the federal healthcare exchange set up through the Affordable Care Act, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The retirees could then buy their own insurance with help from federal subsidies….The structure of incentives within Obamacare encourages cities to drop health benefits for retirees who do not qualify for Medicare yet, experts say.“Essentially what you’re trying to do is shift costs to the federal government,” said Andrew Biggs, a local government pension expert at the American Enterprise Institute.Public retirees typically have only a low to moderate income, even with their pension, meaning many will qualify for subsidies from the federal government, Biggs said.
Great, so we all get to pay for their free healthcare now!
And Detroit’s blue-city approach is a template for other progressively-headed cities like Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel will gut health insurance coverage next year for more than 30,000 retired city workers and begin shifting them to the new federal healthcare system.
Nowhere is it mentioned that the stagnant economy, groaning under the weight of Obamacare requirements, is creating a situation in which 4 out of 5 adults are near poverty and/or rely on welfare. And blue policies that condemn American energy development has further hurt retiree income with $4 plus gasoline, making it even more necessary for newly pensioned workers to go on Obamacare.
It’s the circle of strife!
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