Nearly a million workers won't get a consumer protection in the U.S. health reform law meant to cap insurance costs because the government exempted their employers.
Thirty companies and organizations, including McDonald's (MCD) and Jack in the Box (JACK), won't be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which provided a list of exemptions, said it granted waivers in late September so workers with such plans wouldn't lose coverage from employers who might choose instead to drop health insurance altogether.
Without waivers, companies would have had to provide a minimum of $750,000 in coverage next year, increasing to $1.25 million in 2012, $2 million in 2013 and unlimited in 2014.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2010-10-07-healthlaw07_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Um, so what's this, the White House is rescinding "Health Care Reform" before the Republicans get a chance to? Looks like any company who threatens to drop coverage altogether can just get a waiver.
If this is supposedly a good law, then why is the White House picking and choosing who gets to be exempt? And worse is the unfairness of it; maybe Mcdonalds Corp. can get an exemption, but can you?
