An editorial from The Journal:
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The latest fallout in the debacle that is the Affordable Care Act came to light this week when federal legislation had to be introduced to keep local volunteer fire departments and first responders on the job.
Volunteers, firefighters and emergency service personnel on the job more than 30 hours a week still fall under ACA’s employee-mandate rules. This would either force fire departments to offer an insurance they cannot afford or cut back on training that saves lives in order to meet Obamacare’s requirements.
Fortunately, a bipartisan group of senators – including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia – has introduced legislation that, if passed, will exempt firefighters and first responders from the mandate.
“Due to a technical error that unintentionally penalizes volunteer fire departments, the law jeopardizes funding for training and emergency response hours by imposing unreasonable burdens on many of our volunteer emergency response agencies,” Manchin said while introducing the bill.
But the reality is that this is just one in a long line of missteps and “technical errors” that have failed with Obamacare and the administration’s handling of it. When will government learn that with blanket regulations comes unintended consequences that often break what was already fixed…
