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Subscribe to RSSDuring her Senate confirmation hearing today, Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell defended her decision as the CEO of sporting goods company REI to request a waiver from part of President Obama’s health-care law that would have insured part-time employees.
Jewell said that REI requested the waiver in March 2011 because the company already provided optional, limited-benefit health care coverage for its part-time workers with a $10,000 cap – the only way, Jewell said, REI could afford to cover those employees.
The Affordable Care Act bans such annual limits starting in 2014, however, at which time REI’s waiver will expire. In anticipation of that change Jewell said, the company “will be working to replace that plan with the exchange program,” referring to the health-care law’s insurance exchanges.
Jewell’s explanation came after Sen. John Barrasso, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he hoped that her “first-hand” knowledge of “how waivers can help businesses avoid the negative impacts of bad policy” would inform her approach to exclusions to laws that would fall under her purview as Interior secretary.
Two years before REI requested the waiver, President Obama lauded the company at a White House event for committing to insuring all its employees. “REI, which has to be fit since they're a fitness company, has been doing work that allows them to provide health care coverage, health insurance, not only to their full-time employees, but also their part-time employees,” Obama said.
Some conservatives seized on REI’s waiver request, which came after Jewell stood beside Obama at the White House event, as an example of the Affordable Care Act’s overly burdensome requirements. “REI snagged a waiver to protect the health benefits of a whopping 1,180 workers from the very tentacles of the big government bureaucrats Jewell embraced at Obama's roundtable,” conservative commentator Michelle Malkin wrote in March 2012.
Jewell noted at the hearing that the 1,180 workers were part-time employees who voluntarily signed up for the, so-called “mini-med” plan.
“Those are the numbers that chose to sign up for a part-time plan," she said, "because these are people that had no possibility of coverage under any other plan that was affordable to them."
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I would like a waiver please.
I bet you would. You are a free rider I would bet on it. Get sick and I pay for it.
Then apply for one and it will be judged on its merits like every other application.
with what? your EBT card? Go play stormtrooper in Fisty's backyard
Or maybe John, just maybe I can get better coverage at a better price than what the government can do. Or, maybe I don't want a consumer product pushed on to me. Or maybe I self insure.
The list is endless.
I do love me some Johntho support though but I don't see you donating your welfare check anytime soon.
Obama knew what he was doing, by signing on the CEO of a sporting goods store...she is in good physical shape.
Good thing, since Obama Cabinet appointees have to run far and fast, when their hands are caught in the cookie jar...
From the Fed's Beige Book
From PBS
So, the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans plan for Medicare is that the Democrats will claim to cover everything in Medicare, but there will be no providers, so you will need supplemental insurance. And the Republicans will simply give you a voucher that covers a minimum of services and you'll need supplemental insurance. Big difference.
After the mess that will be Obamacare in 2014 Democrats hoping to recapture the House are dreaming.
Broken link to the "beige book" Alan.
Seems to me employers were using that same excuse BEFORE ACA too.
Do you have the PBS link where the quote came from?
Kind of sums it all up right there, doesn't it?!
"Some conservatives seized"
Kind of sums it all up right there, doesn't it?
Morgs74 - another example of why you are a low information voter. You are allowed to get your own healthcare if you prefer, or you can continue through whatever policy your employer provides. The ACA is for those who have no healthcare and no other options.
right at King Hussein's 'Round' Table...I doubt Sir Galahad or Lancelot are to be found..Perhaps Chick Blunder and Seeking Approval can do a fill in.. should be entertaining watching those two tug on the sword of common sense..ever wonder why it wont budge? dont strain too hard
@DCIA
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june13/medicare_03-04.html
Can't do anything about the BB link as it's on the The Hill web site and it's broken. It's also reported on the Huff Post but they claim it's because of Conservative Fed Chairmen in the districts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/beige-book-obamacare_n_2821632.html?utm_hp_ref=business&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HP%2FBusiness+(Business+on+The+Huffington+Post)
However, here is another story on how employers are reacting
..and of course there's this little gem
Thanks Alan. That's pretty much what I thought on the Fed issue.
Unfortunately employers across the country have practiced keeping hours to part time to avoid insuring people prior to ACA as well. I imagine those part time workers made up a good portion of the 50 million + without insurance.
We all know ACA is not perfect and will need work.
Its is no much we can do to stop this madness, Judge Roberts give it a pass with his own interpretation, however I'm sick that the same participants in the crafting of Obamacare ( unions) receive waivers as well.
On the PBS link Alan -
Don't you find it outrageous that the threat of lower Medicare payments to doctors is causing them to quit taking NEW patients? The Ryan - Republican plan will call for much deeper cuts. What will the doctors do when that plan gets unveiled - quit practicing altogether?
No. They'll look for supplemental insurance. This is why the AARP signed on to the ACA. The beef I always have had with the ACA is that it didn't go after providers. The insurance companies are just middle men. They may add to the cost but they're not the drivers. There has to be a whole conversation around the costs of Medicare because it costs too much at the source.
ObamaCare: Health care so amazing, so incredible, so magnificent......that everyone wants a waiver....especially those that back its imposition on America!
You get the prize for stating the obvious.......ObamaCare is not perfect......ROTFLMAO!!!!!
Hell, Obamacare will need work just to bring it up to the level of a piece of Sh*tty legislation......HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!! Please stop , I can't take it......HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
"Jewell noted at the hearing that the 1,180 workers were part-time employees who voluntarily signed up for the, so-called “mini-med” plan."
Thanks for my morning laugh.
So the company said - "If you want this job, you have to agree to very limited health insurance benefits", and now she claims that they "Volunteered" for lower benefits. And how is that different from other companies that made accepting their 'policy' a condition of getting hired?
No matter how she tries to 'spin' the truth, it's an embarrassment for the Obama Administration. The truth is that the huge number of 'waivers' given is just evidence that Obamacare was poorly drafted, in the middle of the night, by Democrats only, with no thought about the consequences, and passed with tricky parliamentary sleight of hand.
BY the way - even the name given to the act is a joke - The 'Affordable' Care Act is FAR from being 'Affordable' for businesses, and is helping PREVENT more hiring. That's what happens when Liberals control everything - Just look at the City of Detroit and their current financial crisis.
Roy, check out the story on Camden, NJ, another liberal gemstone.
Sounds good to me. Where do I sign up for the waiver? Let Johntho pay for it!
WOW!
Isn't that generous!
A whopping $10K would pay for about 2 hours in the ER if you're lucky.
They would be screwed if they had to be admitted or diagnosed with any type of chronic disease!
The said thing is she had to ask for the waiver because she knows this is better than what the government can produce for her employees. Very generous indeed.
Feisty, does your employer George Soros have a health plan that covers your "Coprolalia"?
Still can't stop trolling me can you vaginal probe Bobby?
What an empty excuse for a man you are when you can't even honor your own "word"!
She does have a point. Mini-med plans are pretty much rigged games that turn out to be worse than useless if the client has a real medical emergency. Most people don't even realize how badly regular insurance plans leave you in a state of financial paralysis if you get sick and they have to be used. But mini-med programs are especially bad. You might as well take the money you spend on them out back and burn it in a barrel.
At least they get two hours. Would you rather we all pay for it?
At least she did something. I can't believe the Feisty Liberal Roselle, IL is pissing herself when at least the woman did something for the part timers. Sheesh. Just no pleasing the people who think because they exist they ought to have the very best of everything to save them for the world to take in in wonderment.
Thank you for elaborating on my point Michael.
Here is IL, Blago got a free mammogram program passed, the problem with it is, what does a woman do if she is diagnosed?
There are no safety nets available for competent treatment.
Plus until the ACA goes into full effect, it is considered a pre-existing condition.
More like a death sentence in my opinion...
So a company decides to OFFER some type of insurance and now you want to slam them for it? Nothing requires a company to offer ANY insurance.
Feisty, do men also get some type of free cancer screenings?
Time for someone to take a remedial class in reading comprehension!
See comment #3.4
About 56 years ago, I thought my husband was having a heart attack. I took him to the ER and after 2 hours they sent him home with a diagnosis of a "viral infection".
A week later I received the bill to the tune of $18K & YES I had insurance, with my deductible & 20% co-pay it still cost us $5600.00
WTF is $10K gonna cover?
Why don't you look it up?
No, nothing does. But if a company offers me a piece of rotting cheese and tells me that it's a 'benefit,' I'm apt to point out that they just gave me a piece of rotting cheese.
Especially if, as a lot of HR departments are doing now, they list the 'benefits' that I never asked for or demanded as part of my 'compensation' to try to demonstrate to me how generous they /really/ are and how much I'm /really/ making.
I apologize---I didn't realize that the company FORCED their workers to buy the insurance plan!
10K would cover most broken arms or legs, most stitches for cuts, most doctor visits for flu.......
When will these evil, greedy companies ever stop forcing employees to participate in health insurance plans?
Oh, 2014, when the forcing is done by the federal government!
My point is that men aren't given preferential treatment when it comes to cancer screenings. Why are women priviledged?
Edit: Should read 5-6 years ago!
Oh, and, at what rate has the cost of health care increased since then?
Must be nice to able to pick and chose what medical emergencies you may need sometime.
Most people are not that lucky!
Ummmmm $10K of it unless I am missing something. Or would you rather pay the $18K. Your choice. You don't have to take it. It is your choice.
Well, then you haven't gone through the employment process recently. I've been a new hire at 2 different places in the last 8 years and in both places, participation in the company's health plan was mandatory unless you could prove that you had health insurance through some other means. There were levels of coverage you could get and optional plans like dental and eye insurance in both places, but in both places the company's group health insurance plan was totally mandatory.
This company's mini-med plan sounds optional, yes, but I imagine that level of coverage is only available to the part-time employees who aren't eligible for the mandatory full health plan that covers their fulltime employees, who are automatically enrolled in it as soon as their probationary period ends.
Well, the rates have increased, for sure, Feisty. Or, as you told me, look it up!
But at least you KNOW that they haven't gone up NEARLY as much as they would have if Obama wasn't the President for the vast majority of that time, right?
Mandatory Michael? I didn't think we had union shops here in NC? My employer offers it PAID for me but I have to pay for spouse/child.
Mandatory, really? Where in the hell were those two jobs that made it mandatory for you to take your money and put it into their healthplan? I want to steer anyone I know away from those should they need a job.
As a benefit, you will now be taxed on it, just as income is.
Same here Michael, long term disability participation is also mandatory at most companies these days.
Still chuckling! Thanx!
Funny you should mention that.
At my company we have a Cadillac BCBS plan - in 2009 - our rates went up 29%.
2010 - they went up 23%
2011 - they went up 15%
2012 - they went up 13%
I am still waiting for our 2013 open enrollment package, however, given the trend, I am not worried about any kind of massive increase.
Feisty, I think you inadvertently hit on the core of the health care problem, that being the extreme expense of it all, with incomprehensible billing procedures.
My problem with the ACA is not the idea of the act itself, but its apparent complexity and corresponding confusion. Does the ACA really help health care in the US if what it effictively does is merely allows more people to "afford" access to a bloated, dysfunctional system, a system that itself continues to function as before? Or maybe there are more reforms in the ACA to the actual health care system involved than I am aware of. I have not read the thing.
Umm, Feisty, I believe you are confusing the costs of your insurance plan with the costs of medical treatment.
They are two different things, you know.
What you asked earlier was "Oh, and, at what rate has the cost of healthcare increased since then?"
Thanks Mark,
I have a real problem with the obscene profits being made off the backs of the sick.
Before my mother passed away, she worked 15+ years at a leading cancer center in the country.
You have NO idea the amount of money that was wasted.
For example, new carpeting was installed on one of the floors, when the CEO saw it he hated it and immediately ordered it be removed and replaced.
They would spend $100K + on Christmas decorations alone!
Being the good "socialist" I am, we need a single payer system and to take the profit out of illness!
Ummm... no Mike!
I am totally capable of discussing two things at one time, unlike some others...
Mark, I think you hit the nail on the head. By providing healthcare for all (or almost all) people will take every opportunity to go to the doctor every time their nose runs. Because they can. I used to live in one of the poorest counties in Tennessee and my doctor's office was full on a daily basis of Medicaid patients who had babies with a runny nose to adults with a common cold. The problem now is the practitioners of medicine have to make up for the deadbeats (not necessarily by their own choosing) who do not make good on payment. Will that cost go down when many more have the insurance that WILL pay? Not sure. I tend to liken it to gas prices. As soon as the price of oil goes up, so do the prices on the sign per gallon. When the prices go down for the oil, it is much much slower to drop back to a reasonable level. Short of mandating what and how often something can be charged, the actual "healthcare costs" will pretty much stay the same.
That has been a pet peeve of mine since this whole ACA thing came to a head. They aren't pursuing actual healthcare costs, just the ability for it to be paid for with "healthcare INSURANCE".
And I have to take issue with Feisty above. Without profits of any kind they couldn't buy those multi-million dollar machines that help to diagnose. We would still be at the mercy of the village doctor coming over to our house on his horse and diagnosing everything with his stethoscope and a thermometer. (She has me on ignore as I made sense once or twice and therefore became a "troll".
The rate of increase is down mainly to the economy taking a 6 year dump...
Says someone who blathers about the DNA in H2O! lol
The rate increase is down mainly due to COMPETITION...
Still waiting on those two employers who MADE you pay into their system Michael. Or would you rather not say because I am your neighbor and can check rather easily?
@Feisty 3.21
You SPECIFICALLY asked me what 10k would cover, and I responded. Because you didn't like the answer, you had to smart off about people not getting to CHOOSE their medical emergencies. But it doesn't change the FACT that I was correct.
You went on to ask how much healthcare costs had increased over the last 5-6 years.
I responded that you could look it up, as you had told me to do earlier. Then you responded with some numbers of the increases in your INSURANCE rates, which is NOT the same.
You MAY be capable of having two different conversations at a time, but it doesn't mean you make sense in any of them!
Yes, I was surprised when it happened too, because no places I had ever worked before were ever like that. Neither is a union shop. One was a private company called Celgard, LLC that primarily manufactures battery separators for lithium/ion batteries and the other, my current job, is in the public sector working directly for Mecklenburg County, which includes the city of Charlotte, as wells as Matthews and Mint Hill and a couple of other tiny townships.
Both the private company and the public agency have mandatory participation in the healthcare plans unless you can prove that you have some other private insurance as a requirement of employment with them. The University of Eastern New Mexico in New Mexico did not and neither did the small, privately owned company in South Carolina where I worked before that. So it may be a relatively recent phenomenon, but during my brief period of unemployment in 2008-9, almost every interview I had indicated that this was now standard practice.
And sure, if you really want to 'check my story,' feel free. Sorry for the delay in my response. I was driving home after work. I wasn't aware that I was under some sort of time limit in my reply.
That's your story - please stick to it! lmao
Oh dear!
Twanged a nerve, did I?
BWHAHAHAHAHA!
Nawwww, Feisty---I NEVER let people like you bother me---folks like you are a dime a dozen.
Way to refute what I wrote, though! Outstanding debating skills there!
Sorry Michael I know how Charlotte traffic is. One more question, was the mandatory participation something you had to pay for or did they pay for your share to make sure you were covered to avoid your being out of work and family became a different story and you had to pay for that share?
My wife works for CharMeck schools and her participation cost is VERY minimal. She has her plan, I have mine, and I pay BSBSNC for a separate plan for my son (It costs a hell of a lot less than putting him on my plan or hers).
Why thank you, you're making me *blush* lol
Now that is on point---you just completely refuted everything I wrote in that one little sentence. I stand in awe of you now! LOL!
Feisty,
Being the good humanistic compassionate conservative I am, I have no ethical objection to reasonable profits made in health care, largely in order to generate funds for development and research, and to keep the corporation in question financially healthy. These factors benefit everyone. I can not complain about the quality of care in the US, but the healthcare business in the US is far from healthy, for so many reasons, and therin lies my concern.
Are you familiar with City of Hope out here in SoCal? It is a cancer research and treatment center that is a real model for how things should, and could be.
Talk,
In regards to pricing and those who don't pay - the idea of the individual mandate is that the more people who pay, the lower the prices will be. In theory, I agree with that. But as I stated previously, you really are not fixing anything in the long run and I think you agree with that.
Some of what is ailing the healthcare system is abuse by consumers - we have brought a lot of this down on ourselves. Unrealistic expectations of the health care system, and unhealthy lifestyles (that we expect Dr. Magic to fix for us) drag the system down. Not to mention those who don't pay.
An extreme thought experiment - what if health insurance was completely cut off, everyone had to pay out of pocket? At present cost for healthcare very few could pay, and healthcare providers would have to dramatically lower prices in order to attract the volume of business necessary to stay afloat. Fanciful, I admit, but perhaps draws attention to some core problems.
I'm not entirely sure what you are asking. If you're asking if the cost of participating in Mecklenburg's healthcare plan is onerous, then the answer is no. My out of pocket cost works out to approximately $650/year to participate in the basic plan for the employee. However, that, I believe is the lowest level of coverage that Mecklenburg County offers. It leaves you with a significantly higher co-pay and basically a doubled deductible amount. There is a cadillac plan that more or less halves those costs, but basically doubles the premium that they deduct directly from your check. So that is more or less a decision based on whether you think you'll be sick enough to warrant paying the extra premium for the cadillac plan. From what I understand from my co-workers who have children, though, adding dependents to the Mecklenburg County plan is much more expensive, but since I have no wife or children, that isn't really something I've looked into in great depth.
But as far as what I think the substance of what you're asking is, there was really no option for me to opt out of the plan entirely if I had no other coverage. It was basically a choice between, 'join this plan' or 'have some other, far more expensive plan' if you intend to work here.
that's rosacea from the bathtub gin you hit with frequency
Caesar--that ROCKS! ROTFLMAO!!
As you should!
Thanks again!
Mark,
Sorry I hadn't heard about it.
After my mom passed in lieu of flowers I asked donations be made to St. Jude's. Their work is to be commended.
Will you look at that? Something we can both agree on!
Thanks for your thoughts & hope to see you over at the DDI tomorrow night! ☺
Just wait until the true costs of Obamacare are tallied up!
Medicare blew through it's initial 10-year budget in about 6 years, and then doubled about every 4 years for the next 12 years.
I dare say that those way-off-base projections for Medicare will be AMAZINGLY accurate compared to what happens with Obamacare!
Yep. And watch the $17 Trillion dollar debt soar!
Oh, proof that irony is not dead. I love it.
Also, regarding "free riders"..... I am old enough to remember when those "free riders" were called "poor unfortunate people who couldn't afford health care". Democrats are the biggest hypocrites I know, and at a completely evil level of hypocrisy. And I say that as a liberal.
Repukes are worse,,they hide behind a fake black book,god religion,,,losers
Fake black book huh? You ever wonder why we are in the year 2013 and not in the 50 Million? Think about when the calendar started and just one event that happened at the time.
Well,I'm glad I have free va healthcare,,it's great and I'm happy I don't have to get health scare,,,
You republicons should be out looking for healthcare,,,
And you should be wondering how God gave you the ability to stick your foot in your mouth and your head up your a$$ at the same time. Although I do admire the flexibility.
VA care is not free. Taxpayers pay for it.
Well it is for me,,,hehehehehehehe
So you are one of the 47% that don't pay taxes, huh, Bulletman?
How very proud you must be!
I'm also,a business owner,,life is great
R-r-i-i-i-i-i-i-g-g-g-h-h-h-h-t-t-t-t.
I am sorry, maybe that should have been:
R,-r,r,-i,-i,-i,-g,-g,-g,-h,-h,-h,-t,-t,-t,-t.
Oh,,thanks to,all for paying my healthcare,,it's really great here n mv.Brand new state of thwart hospital I even get my chiropractic there....
Newspeak: "Affordable Care Act."
I have read the whole lengthy law - nowhere does it address a reduction in the cost of "care" - in fact it increases the cost of care through additional taxes on medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
It should rightly have been called the Insurance Overhaul and Tax Act (IOTA).
Life is good ,pension free healthcare,investment income,business income,,,
the ACA is an unworkable mess that WILL die a death by a thousand cuts
Of course, obama rules and regulation only apply to the little people, those without political conections or donate $500,0000 for a quarterly meeting with the man himself. Sounds a little like selling access.
As long as screwing labor is the easiest way to show a quarterly profit, these sanctimonious capitalists will be able to rationalize dropping pensions, out-sourcing, automating, dropping health care and all the other greedy ploys. If Barry had pushed for straight socialized medicine, the only losers would be the insurance companies and lawyers. Health care costs would have dropped out of the 'screw the troops' equation. But big contributors and special interests won out as usual and we got this rotten system instead,.........
If this doesn't give Leftists simpletons that supported Obamacare an idea of just how bad it is going to be when fully implemented nothing will.
But then they don't care it's not their money anyway.
She's just another liberal hypocrite that demands and supports the government taking over everything and then wants a waiver from the very programs she says she supports.
Anyone surprised?
soo yet anuder useles wurman gits to go up da elevator of peter-prncpil. wat does rice noes about security, frum bein fired frum da u.n? wat is rong wit dis blk-muns? he kant git r dun wit da peoples dat noes hoos to gitr dun, white peoples. dis it nutin but revers dis-krim-a nation. so lern to spek in OBAMINICS. CUZ SHE 2 STUPIT TO DO S ANIES DING ELKS. an dis chief of staff for treasurie chief, an da dude dun noes da diferent teween a shekel, an a zoot?!