ObamaCare strikes again? McDonalds may drop health plan

Those of us who fought against ObamaCare knew stuff like this was coming down the pike.  The Wall Street Journal has a story up saying McDonalds may have to dump the health plan for its 30,000 hourly employees because of cost.

WSJ: Trade groups representing restaurants and retailers say low-wage employers might halt their coverage if the government doesn’t loosen a requirement for “mini-med” plans, which offer limited benefits to some 1.4 million Americans.

The requirement concerns the percentage of premiums that must be spent on benefits.

While many restaurants don’t offer health coverage, McDonald’s provides mini-med plans for workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. A single worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week to get coverage up to $10,000 a year.

Last week, a senior McDonald’s official informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain’s insurer won’t meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80% to 85% of its premium revenue on medical care.

Everybody is now coming out saying that the Wall Street Journal story is not true (well sort of). What McDonald’s and Health and Human Services aren’t denying is that they are talking about the effects (i.e. waivers) of ObamaCare.

h/t: The Right Scoop

Right now, no one wants to admit the ill effects of ObamaCare, however reality will sooner or later make this a moot point.  The government simply cannot set one size fits all rules for something as expensive as health care and expect that everyone can easily comply.  To make matters worse,  ObamaCare’s low penalty makes dumping employee’s health coverage for more cost effective than supplying coverage.

 For more info on this story check out the Weekly Standard and then follow the discussion on Memeorandum.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Wall Street Journal

Via: The Right Scoop

Via: The Weekly Standard

Read The Fine Print Part IV: ObamaCare may leave Congress without heath coverage

Does anyone need any more proof that no one read this bill before it became law? In this case the consequences come with delicious karma to bite all of Congress in the butt. 

The New York Times: WASHINGTON — It is often said that the new health care law will affect almost every American in some way. And, perhaps fittingly if unintentionally, no one may be more affected than members of Congress themselves.

In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.

For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.

[SNIP] 

The law apparently bars members of Congress from the federal employees health program, on the assumption that lawmakers should join many of their constituents in getting coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.

But the research service found that this provision was written in an imprecise, confusing way, so it is not clear when it takes effect.

The new exchanges do not have to be in operation until 2014. But because of a possible “drafting error,” the report says, Congress did not specify an effective date for the section excluding lawmakers from the existing program.

Under well-established canons of statutory interpretation, the report said, “a law takes effect on the date of its enactment” unless Congress clearly specifies otherwise. And Congress did not specify any other effective date for this part of the health care law. The law was enacted when President Obama signed it three weeks ago.

I hope they have to go though the public humiliation of passing another reconciliation bill to fix this hot mess. It ridicule that will be heaped on Democrats from the right would be richly deserved.  

Nancy’s words are going to echo through time.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The New York Times

Read The Fine Print Part III: ObamaCare to tax middle class in 2019

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Nancy Pelosi sure wasn’t kidding when she said they had to pass the bill to find out what is in it. Today some more ugly news just leaked out about ObamaCare.  Apparently the middle class, yes those making under $250k, will be socked with $3.9 billion in tax increases. 

The Hill: Taxpayers earning less than $200,000 a year will pay roughly $3.9 billion more in taxes — in 2019 alone — due to healthcare reform, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's official scorekeeper. 

The new law raises $15.2 billion over 10 years by limiting the medical expense deduction, a provision widely used by taxpayers who either have a serious illness or are older.

Taxpayers can currently deduct medical expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income. Starting in 2013, most taxpayers will only be able to deduct expenses greater than 10 percent of AGI. Older taxpayers are hit by this threshold increase in 2017.

Once the law is fully implemented in 2019, the JCT estimates the deduction limitation will affect 14.8 million taxpayers — 14.7 million of them will earn less than $200,000 a year. These taxpayers are single and joint filers, as well as heads of households. 

"Loss of this deduction will mean higher taxes for 14.7 million individuals and families making under $200,000 a year in 2019," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Hill. "The new subsidy for health insurance would not be available to offset this tax increase for most of these households." […]

I hope everyone who gets hit with these taxes is someone who was stupid enough to want this bill to have passed. Anyone who took the time to read so much as the first 100 pages, would have known the bill was nothing like what Obama was selling on the stump.

On the bright side, all these nasty details will only help the Repeal and Replace idea.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Hill