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WSJ: McDonald’s May Have to Drop 30,000 Health Plans Due to ObamaCare
By Philip Klein on 9.30.10 @ 9:34AM
McDonald’s has put federal officials on notice that it may have to drop health insurance for 30,000 employees unless it gets an exemption from a new requirement in the national health care law, the Wall Street Journal reports.
ObamaCare forces insurers to pay out at least 80 percent to 85 percent of the revenue they receive in premiums on paying out claims, a percentage known as the medical loss ratio. The problem is, that’s especially difficult to manage in so-called mini-med plans which offer scaled down benefits at a lower price, but have higher administrative costs due to a lot of worker turnover.
If the rule doesn’t get altered, its ramifications could be greater than McDonald’s — as there are 1.4 million people with mini-med plans.
The McDonald’s move is just the latest in a series of revelations that undermine the promises Democrats made when they were selling ObamaCare.
In May, burger chain White Castle announced that a separate provision in the law could cut its earnings in half, causing it to curtail expansion plans and slow hiring.
for full article: http://spectator.org/blog/2010/09/30/wsj-mcdonalds-may-have-to-drop
Note from JAMES: Both the Obama administration and McDonalds are refuting the Wall Street Journal report.
Byrd’s family will receive remainder of his salary
The must-pass spending bill pending in the Senate includes a little-noticed provision that would pay the family of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd for the salary he would have commanded in the next fiscal year.
The Senate handbook says that upon the death of a senator who had been serving in office, “in the next appropriations bill, an item will be inserted for a gratuity to be paid to the widow(er) or other next- of-kin, in the amount of one-year’s compensation.”
As a result, the bill calls for “equal shares” of the late senator’s $193,400 salary to be split between Byrd’s seven children and grandchildren.
The practice has been long followed by both parties and in both chambers, including in 2007 when the widows of the late Wyoming GOP Sen. Craig Thomas and the late Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) each received $165,200 for the salary that the two men would have received.
Funny that Politico mentions 2 GOP widows who received this benefit, but they don’t mention whether Vicki Kennedy received the same last year after Ted died, or did she decline it, which could be noted as well.
Here is a commission meeting where some commissioners believe that the voice of the people is not important. They certainly DO NOT GET IT !! This is long, and very exasperating!!
