Businesses Opt to Pay Obamacare Penalty Instead of Offering Healthcare

An increasing number of companies say that paying the government’s penalty to break with Obamacare will be cheaper than following it, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Obamacare requires businesses with 50 or more full-timers to provide healthcare coverage for employees. For businesses that don’t, there is a $2,000 penalty for each full-time worker above  30 employees. Full-time workers are are those that work more than 30 hours a week.

Rick Levi, owner of Consolidated Management that runs cafeterias at schools, offices and jails in 10 states, says he employs 102 workers and and will pay more than $500,000 per year if every employee takes the insurance plan. The penalty will cost him much less, around $144,000.

Read more at the Huffington Post.