Obamacare Just Made Americans Richer Without Anyone Noticing
Glenn
Beck once said Obamacare would mean "the end of prosperity in America
forever." But so far, it turns out President Obama's 2010 health law is
actually putting money in Americans' wallets. To be exact, President
Obama's 2010 health law was responsible for about three-quarters of a
surprising…
Obamacare Just Made Americans Richer Without Anyone Noticing
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To be exact, President Obama's 2010 health law was responsible for about three-quarters of a surprising January rise in U.S. consumer spending and American income growth, according to calculations by the Wall Street Journal.
While not exceptional, the gains were significant: a 0.4 percent rise in consumer spending ($45.2 billion) and a 0.3 percent rise in personal incomes (up $43.9 billion), according to new figures released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The growth came in spite of the expiration of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed and all that horrible winter weather.
So what exactly did the Obamacare rollout do to cause such a rise? For one, it expanded the Medicaid program, a critical and highly controversial aspect of the law, by adding up to a $19 billion in benefits in January. On top of that, health care enrollees additionally received another near $15 billion in the form of tax credits as a result of the rollout, according to the BEA.
Together the two changes have freed up many Americans to spend money that would have gone towards health care premiums on goods and services instead.
The benefits of the Obamacare rollout thus far also appear to throw cold water on the idea that the law will hamper the economy -- especially when considering last January. Back then, both consumer spending and personal incomes had their worst month in years and fell by several percentage points after the battle in Congress over the so-called "fiscal cliff" ended with payroll taxes shooting up across the board.
Overall, that tax hike resulted in an $700 per worker tax increase on average, according to the Tax Policy Center. Who's killing the economy again?
1 comment:
By The Numbers
What really happens under Obamacare (see ‘The Answer – Subsidies and Penalties’):
www.naviben.com/NAV/index-subsidies.php
We are likely to see any stimulus effect from the few benefiting under ACA (those receiving health insurance through a Health Exchange and a tax subsidy) largely offset by the surprised many required to pay a tax penalty. Will be interesting to see how prepared tax penalty payers are to pay the penalty when it comes due. Haven’t seen much discussion about anyone changing their tax planning for 2014.
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