You never want a good crisis to go to waste, so I have to use the opportunity provided by a crisis that’s hitting one of my favorite breakfast providers to make the “told you so” point that, as we expected, Obamacare is likely going to have dramatic consequences for low-income workers. According to the Wall Street Journal this morning, McDonald’s Corporation may be dropping its health-insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.
Here are some quotes from the article:
The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers’ health plans as the law ripples through the real world.
And:
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.
That quote is about how shortsighted the lawmakers who conceived of this law were:
Democrats who drafted the health law wanted the requirement to prevent insurers from spending too much on executive salaries, marketing and other costs that they said don’t directly help patients.
Thanks to Leck Shannon for the pointer.