When Immigration Reform and ObamaCare Collide

Speaking of perverse consequences: The Rubio/Gang of Eight immigration plan will unintentionally create a subsidy of up to $3,000 per year to employers who hire newly legalized workers over U.S. citizens, notes Jed Graham at Investors Business Daily.

In avoiding one controversy — the cost of providing millions of newly legalized immigrants with ObamaCare subsidies — the Senate "Gang of Eight" may have risked walking into another.

The bipartisan legislation released Wednesday dictates that those granted provisional legal immigrant status would be treated the same as those "not lawfully present" are treated under the 2010 health law.

That means they would neither be eligible for ObamaCare tax credits nor required to pay an individual tax penalty for failing to obtain qualifying health coverage. It also means some employers would face no penalty for failing to provide such workers affordable health coverage.