We've been complaining CNN has been biased and has not done the best reporting in the world (I actually like the science coverage) but now it appears the GOP, Tea Party and yes, Sarah Palin will have something more to complain about with the "lamestream media."
Yes, you got it, Obamacare talk is back. But this time, from CNN itself refuting the Obamacare myth that the Affordable Healthcare Act mandate is strapping small businesses cash flow:
http://money.cnn.com/...
It's been uttered by every opponent of health care reform: Obamacare will kill small businesses.
But the new law's rules don't apply to the vast majority of small businesses. The employer mandate, which forces firms to start providing insurance in 2014, pertains only to companies with at least 50 full-time workers.
That's a tiny fraction of small businesses.
As of 2010, there were roughly 5.7 million small employers, defined as those with fewer than 500 workers. Some 97% of them have fewer than 50 employees. That means Obamacare's employer mandate applies only to 3% of America's small businesses.
That's about 200,000 companies.
However, it appears critics say they aren't fooled. Naturally, the critics come from the Republican Party, which is a tool of the wealthy elite:
The critics aren't convinced: "Small businesses don't have staff with the time and expertise to deal with the new system. It's a huge drain on these smaller firms," wrote U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), House Small Business Committee chair, in a recent editorial for The Washington Times.
However, per CNN Money this insight is also worth noting:
However, nearly all of those businesses already do provide insurance: 96% of those with 50-plus workers currently offer health plans anyway, according to government data.
Furthermore...
But there are signs that most plans out there qualify under Obamcare's other requirement. More than 99% of those in work-sponsored plans have insurance that meets most Obamacare coverage standards, according to last year's study by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.
And this Vermont healthcare attorney had this to say:
It's a reality that's likely to catch most small business owners by surprise, said Eileen Elliot, a Vermont health care attorney who advises entrepreneurs.
"There's a lot of trepidation and misinformation out there," Elliot said. "I think it's time to do some education."
For any concern about the sources behind this analysis, the U.S. Census Bureau and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are cited as sources of information for this CNN Money report. Whether those sources are sufficient enough to merit a counter argument to the Obamacare critics is up to debate.
However, the big question is this: Does this information by CNN add any new insight to you or is it more of the same that we've all heard for months and years since the Affordable Healthcare Act was passed?