Obama Admin Gives 30 Firms Health Law Exemption
- Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:48pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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St. Augustine once famously said, “Lord make me chaste, but not yet.” A similar mantra could be adopted by the Obama administration regarding the new health care law: we’re implementing new legislation, but not yet — and not for all.
On Thursday, it was reported that 30 businesses will be getting one-year exemptions from portions of the new law, specifically the requirement to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, used generally to cover part-time or low-wage employees.
USA Today reports that the decision was made by the Department of Health and Human Services to grant the exemptions in in late September, ensuring that some workers with low-cost plans wouldn’t lose coverage from employers who might choose to drop health insurance altogether instead of raise the amount of coverage. In short, “the [low-cost] plans will be exempt from rules intended to keep people from having to pay for all their care once they reach a preset coverage cap.”
Among those exempted is McDonald’s, which reportedly threatened to drop coverage for nearly 30,000 workers if it was not granted such an exemption. McDonald’s later denied making the threat, but now is benefiting from the administration’s relaxing of the requirement. Among the others receiving exemptions are Jack in the Box and a New York teachers’ union.
While the move may save some from losing coverage altogether, critics say that it could be a sign of weakness from the Obama administration. As the New York Times reports, such early exemptions “offer the first signs of how the administration may tackle an even more difficult hurdle: the resistance from insurers and others against proposed regulations that will determine how much insurers spend on consumers’ health care versus administrative overhead, a major cornerstone of the law.”
Hot Air’s Ed Morissey argues that the exemptions have reduced Obamacare to a contest where whoever squeaks the loudest gets the oil:
By granting a few dozen waivers at the outset, though, the White House has amplified the uncertainty and arbitrariness in ObamaCare even further. At least insurers and employers had a figure that they could use for planning. Now there is no standard at all, except for whatever Kathleen Sebelius decides she likes — and whom she wants to favor.
He notes that the success of any law requires a commitment to its enforcement. With arbitrary exemptions being thrown around, and because of a lack of clarity from the law’s inception, the legislation could be creating what it claims to have solved: an unequal playing field.
“One of the problems with massive, complicated government regulations is that they create a lot of room for regulator discretion, and therefore a lot of room for unequal treatment of different players in the market,” Yule Levin writes over at National Review.
Levin explains that the exemptions themselves are “good news, since the rule would have forced these companies to drop their employee coverage, leaving almost a million workers without the insurance they had before Obamacare.” However, it now means increased government control: “these companies now need permission from the administration to offer their employees a benefit they have offered for years.”
In general, even though some employees are going to be able to keep their low-cost plans because their companies lobbied hard enough, there are still many workers whose companies will be forced follow through with what McDonald’s threatened to do: drop insurance coverage.
That flies in the face of the administration’s promise that if you like the insurance you have now, you can keep it.
“This shows what happens when people with no experience in an industry decide that they can construct it better than the market has structured itself,” Morissey says.
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Comments (98)
asmith
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:18pmWait, whats that sound? Why I think it’s the distant beat of thousands of booted brown shirts goose stepping through America. Just remember Big Brother cares about all of his comrades.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:00pmThis reminds me of work, 6 months ago, they ask me to put up a new web server, I do, figure they are going to need to manage users at some point, so I create a couple of pages to let them manage users/track users usage. Today, I find out they paid someone $37K to figure out how they could create/track users.
Today was corps day, used to be engineers day, but due to nepotism and racial quotas the army corps of engineers has so few engineers they no longer call it that, even though I’m one of the only engineers left in our building of 400+ I wasn‘t allowed to go to corps day since I’m a contractor, not a government drone, so I found out about the $37K they pissed away.
Report Post »Sunnyr
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:58pmThe wheels are falling off the ObamaCare Crap Cart. Wait until we gut the thing and defund it!
REAL Change is coming……………………………..starting November 2.
Report Post »ReGul
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 10:34pmGod Willing, we desparately need balance of power and checkmate this radical
Report Post »Miss_E
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:49pmAnyone wanna bet Moochelle‘s picture will be on McDonald’s kids Happy Meal urging them to eat their carrots!
Anyone?
Thank God I live in a town to small for McDonald’s, I’ll be spared the pain. Lol
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:14pmHave you seen the newest McD’s campaign in which they show kids finding
“HOPE”
in their happy meals ?
As for Moochelle’s pic, I don‘t think McD’s would do that because they wouldn’t want kids to throw up or be scared out of their minds and start bawling like…… ..lil kids even before they get to unwrap their meal .
Report Post »After all, its supposed to be a ‘happy’ meal
msctex
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:37pmNow why would any firms need or want an exemption from a fair and functional system? More importantly, why would the Administration be willing to grant it, if they believe it to be so?
They’re not even trying to kid themselves anymore.
Report Post »tarpon
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:22pmcrony Obammunism.
Report Post »anniebiz
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:47pmAccurate euphemism! Obammunists may not like it, but….I think it’s going to catch on.
Report Post »Okpulot Taha
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:10pmAll is well in Left Liberal La La Land. Everywhere I look, warm sunny days, puffy white clouds, rainbows, butterflies, pretty flowers, chirping birds, prancing unicorns and delicious ice cold kool-aid for everyone.
Praise be the Black Messiah.
Okpulot Taha
Report Post »Choctaw Nation
MrButcher
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:09pmgreat! now exempt the rest of us!
Report Post »Mark7
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:03pmJust another way for “King O” to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. I need an audience with is royal highness so I can get an exemption from income taxes. I wonder how that would turn out? Probably not very well for me.
Report Post »ClockKing
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:01pmDoes anyone notice the centralization of power? Now, the Administration determines who makes what level of profit, who gets a “tax cut”, etc., NOT the LAW! Marxism has come fully to the USA.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:58pmThe Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Report Post »AMERICA4EVER
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:30pmThere’s a landslide coming.
Report Post »mallsniper
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:02pmNo there is a revolution coming…and voting for a different R or a different D is not revolution!!
Report Post »GOTT-EM-MAUSER
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 8:56pmMore like a “LEADSLIDE” coming @ 2900 feet per second.
Report Post »mistercondo
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:26pmWhy can some firms have an exemption and some not? Who decides and what is the criteria that will allow some firms to get the exemption and others not? Is this Obama’s fairness?
Report Post »Contrarian51
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:53pmIf you’re big enough and threaten to drop your plan and pay the fine instead, you get an exemption.
If you’re a union, you get an exemption.
If the stink you raise is strong enough to become a story the administration can’t squelch in less than a week, you get an exemption.
You need to remember that Obamacare was deliberately designed to fail once the public option and single payer bit the dust. That’s why Harry Reid had to get the whole thing written up behind closed doors. There will be more exemptions now that the administration has publicly acknowledged that it can be strong-armed into submission. This will continue, along with any other exceptions or exemptions needed to keep things quiet, until this act of lunacy is on the brink of collapse, at which time the administration can declare that only a single-payer system can save us.
Welcome to France, mon ami.
Report Post »thecommish58
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 7:09amHow stange is this???
A company like CVS who supported all efforts to pass the bill (thinking of the creation of 30 million new customers) is now in the postion of having to eliminate coverage for some employees due to costs. They still win though – because they save on paying the benefits AND the cancelled coverage now group now become CASH paying customers, which are the most profitable group in the entire mix – that my friends is the reason you better by some drugstore stocks – they have all the bases covered in a “heads I win – tales you lose” business model.
Report Post »john seven eighteen
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:15pmI guess Pelosi was right (”…we have to pass it before we‘ll know what’s in it.”) Obama just finally figured out what was actually in his health care package, now he has to “tweak” it to appease those of his followers who it doesn’t actually help! Get ready for a landslide of these tweaks in the weeks to come.
Report Post »tobywil2
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:11pmWhen the Bureaucrat replaces the “free market” with a regulation, we all lose. Every regulation gives a political crony a windfall at the expense of the general population. Printing money is not the only cause of inflation!
THE DEVASTATING AFFECT OF THE BUREAUCRACY:
Rules and regulations created and enforced by the “Fourth Branch of Government” (the bureaucracy) that restrict innovation, inhibit the creation of wealth and provide advantages to the “technologically challenged” are the root cause of our problems. Inflation, credit and failure of financial institutions are just the symptoms, an attempt to cover up the failure of “disastrous centralized planning.”
Money manipulation is simply a method of misappropriation of wealth. Wealth must be created before it can be misappropriated and the Bureaucracy inhibits the creation of wealth.
Our problems started when the bureaucracy obtained significant power during Roosevelt’s (T) Administration. About 10 years later the Fed Was created and it’s been downhill every since.
Chapter 8 (The Bureaucracy – ICC) of “21st Century Common Sense” addresses this point in detail, including a description of the “Iron Triangle” (control of the bureaucracy by special interest) and an enlighten quote by Woodrow Wilson highlighting the capture of the Bureaucracy by “special interest.”
The bibliography on my website allows you to visit the websites used for the book’s research just by “control-clicking” on the website address.
http://commonsense21c.com/
Report Post »SaraGolden
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:11pmAh another break for the unions. Look out Patriots, this administration is sneaky, yet predictable. Unions get a break while states cases are schluffed off? Right. For the people, by the people. What a corrupt socialist democracy.
Report Post »Glitch
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:08pmIt’s the “Oh, we didn’t think of that!” exemption. That‘s what happens when you don’t think jackaxx
Or, did they think of it. It’s the youth right? Well there was mention of a national police force/armed service by Obama. This combined with the aged 16 – 24 high unemployment, combined with Obama wanting aged 16 – 24 getting government jobs may equal National Police. Hmm, just a thought.
Report Post »GOTT-EM-MAUSER
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 8:52pmWhat you describe above, is Often referred to as, the coming “TARGET RICH ENVIORNMENT”!!
Report Post »BrianCK
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:05pmJust postponing the inevitable because it’s election season.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:13pmExactly correct. He is just managing the roll out, and trying to put the lid on criticism before the election.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:00pmThis shows what happens when people with no experience in an industry decide that they can construct it better than the market has structured itself. Obama’s failures are the glue that holds the political center together. November 2, 2010 we take our country back.
Report Post »BoilitDown
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:00pmThis is an admission that Obamacare will not work.
Report Post »PROAMERICAN
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:59pmWhere do we sign up for our exemption?
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:09pmThe wonderful thing about this is, there’s no signing up. However, you’ll need a team of thugs (lawyers) threatening havoc. Then you’ll be required to donate money to the Obama foundation. Because if they’re going to save you money, you’ll need to spread that savings (kick-back) to Barack.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:58pmSo how much did MickyD’s , Junk in the Box and NY teacher’s union promise / deliver in terms of hard cash and propaganda to OFA ?
Report Post »AmericanPatriot01
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:57pmHe know that it is going to be repealed. So, there is no reason to not give this consession the the big corporations.
Report Post »Glitch
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:02pmI think so as well. Repeal!
Report Post »Breaker 19
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:29pmRepeal won’t take place until after 2012 if we are lucky. We are toast in our generation and my life is for sacrifice to help my children and yours to live in a better tomorrow. My new slogan is “You will have to shoot me in the head before I’ll bow to the altar of this oppressive government or any human…only to Jesus have I bowed, and I am counted as a sheep for slaugher”. If I get to see a better day – great, but WE MUST NOT GIVE UP AFTER THIS 11-2-10 ELECTION.
Report Post »pmjme
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 7:04pmHe will do anything for Nov. votes.
Report Post »klstj
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:55pmLook out the walls are crashing down…run…run!
Report Post »TruthTalker
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:08pmWhat did they have to do in order to get on the exempt list??
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:08pmI want on the list
Report Post »Beckofile
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 9:41amIt will be real easy to get on the list. Go to the underground economy and use cash and barter. Fire all your employees and make sure you work for people that don’t want to act as the governments tax collector and 1099 you. Welcome to Obama’s summer of Wreckovery. Avoid feeding the beast and growing oppression for all. It is the last patriotic thing we can do. If they no longer are getting the revenue then the bust will happen quick so we can repair for our children.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 10:02amCan we all band together as individuals and request an exemption, too? After all, we are the taxpayers paying for all the union bailouts.
Report Post »ComradeBrad
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:53pmMore good news for business owners, now what are my taxes going to be?
Report Post »MAULEMALL
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:56pmThe stupidity of these people is amaizing
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 4:58pmgoing up, either way you will see a tax hike in January. Less if the “buss era” tax breaks are re-applied, more if the lame duck does nothing.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:00pmSo what? The fix is already in…
Report Post »claymoremacm
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 5:08pmI want a exeption for all the policys of this Moron administration
Report Post »Gas137
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:28pmAnimal Farm?
Report Post »BreeZee
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 6:44pmTeachers union? WTF! we’ve been bailing these idiots out repeatedly and now more? I wonder what other unions have there hand out? Ask Special permission? Get this striaght people, “what the Gov’t giveth, the Gov’t can taketh away”. The states need to start saying NO the the Fed‘l Gov’t.
Report Post »Major Infidel
Posted on October 7, 2010 at 8:00pmThey’ll be the same as mine, Brad. Astronomical.
I’ll be firing my only two employees and working for cash only next year as I scale back my little operation. That is the real result of these “changes” and I’m not exaggerating.
So way to go Barry!!! Two more hungry mouths coming your way for a hand out and another small business seeking any avenue to avoid the taxes. Everyone loses.
Obama makes me vibrate with anger.
Report Post »Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Czar
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 3:28am“and a New York teachers’ union” ..
LOL, Great union reps there, no?
Every other teacher in the country gets tenor for subbing during summer school, and these goof balls got a bottom of the barrel health care plan. lol
You deserve it too you idiots. Those Union reps/thugs are probably pocketing the extra coin.
I hope your due are double the nations average … lol
idiots!
Report Post »Beckofile
Posted on October 8, 2010 at 9:33amEqual protection clause????
We pay and they get exempted. This is the exact reason why it is best to go back to “Single Payer” program. Each and every single citizen can purchase whatever insurance you desire. Also stop the mandate that hospitals have to admit those who do not carry insurance and whammo you get rid of the need for mandating insurance. They nudged us years ago into accepting the false premise. No one was uninsured under the old system due to the fact a hospital could not turn anyone away. This is all about who gets to control the delivery.
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