Harvard Faculty Hit with Rising Obamacare Costs

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Faculty at Harvard University are being given a dose of their own medicine in the form of higher healthcare costs, thanks to Obamacare.

Harvard healthcare experts advised President Barack Obama, giving him some of the ideas that were implemented in his Affordable Care Act.

But the The New York Times reports the faculty have been in an "uproar" in recent weeks because they don't want to pay for the costly changes that resulted because of the ACA.

In its 2015 Benefits Open Enrollment Guide, the university states: "Harvard, like most employers, must respond to the national trend of rising healthcare costs, including some driven by healthcare reform."

Faculty knew the change was coming. Two months ago, they tried to block the higher costs being passed down from their employer. But their vote came too late.

At that time, Harvard President Drew G. Faust wrote, "Careful analysis of any of these statistics points to the same conclusion: Harvard's health benefits costs have increased significantly and are expected to do so for the foreseeable future."

Harvard's faculty had previously experienced a very generous health plan. Now they're facing co-insurance payments and deductibles, and the reality of Obamacare is hitting home in this Ivy League institution just like it already has for many other Americans.

Harvard cited some of the reasons for their higher costs under Obamacare, including:

• Additional taxes and fees that began in 2012 and are ongoing
• A potential 40 percent excise tax on the value of health insurance benefits exceeding certain thresholds, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2018.