Union Buyer Remorse on Obamacare?

Be careful what you wish for.  That’s the lesson Big Labor is learning now that Obamacare is unfolding in all its mighty messiness.

Labor leaders, who turned out their troops in droves in support of the President’s signature health care law, are now realizing that  – shock! – it will actually increase premiums for millions of their members, despite Obama’s repeated assurances to the contrary.  FOX News reports:

“[Unions leaders’] primary concern is the multi-employer or so-called Taft-Hartley plans that cover unionized workers in retail, construction, transportation and other industries that frequently use seasonal and temporary employment.

The union leaders say the roughly 20 million people covered by the plans will likely have higher premiums because the Affordable Care Act does not include tax subsidies for them.”

CBS News explains the problem:

“Obama’s Affordable Care Act has added to that cost — for the unions’ and other plans — by requiring health plans to cover dependents up to age 26, eliminate annual or lifetime coverage limits and extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.”

Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant, thinks there’s another reason Labor is losing the love of Obamacare – the law may be taking away part of their raison d’etre: 

“A lot of these labor contracts are very expensive, and now employers are going to have an alternative to very expensive labor health benefits…If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?…In my mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the employer.”

Oh, the irony. A union-endorsed President’s unions-supported law undermining the existence of unions.

President Obama repeatedly promising to reduce health insurance premiums: