Bye Bye Retiree Health Care - Hello Medicare for 2 Million?

Three American companies, Valero Energy, Deere and Company and Caterpillar announced yesterday that the loss of tax deductions in ObamaCare will cost them $265 million. These companies now provide prescription drug coverage for retirees. If these companies, and others losing tax deductions, choose to drop coverage due to the high cost, some 2 million people may be forced to enroll in Medicare:

From Hot Air's Ed Morrissey:

The Democrats in Congress argued that they would gain $5.4 billion in revenue by eliminating the tax break enacted in the 2003 Medicare Part D program as an incentive for businesses to keep their retirees out of the Medicare system.  Instead, they have given businesses a reason to dump their retirees out of the private networks and into the Part D system now. Not only will the expected tax revenues never appear, but now we will have to spend a lot more money covering those prescriptions out of public funds.  The seniors in these programs will suffer most of all, as the Part D coverage is vastly inferior to the private plans offered by businesses in the private sector....

For months, businesses have warned about the problem, and for months, Democrats have claimed this clause as a $5.4 billion revenue source.  One might think that the media would be interested in puncturing some bad assumptions.  Apparently not.

Just my opinion here, but it's possible this is not an oversight. The more on Medicare, the more under government control.

Linked by Storm'n Norm'n - Thank you Norm!