The Obamacare Waiver-mania! movement builds
Several Obamacare Waiver-mania items for you this morning as we stay on top of this issue and force the Dems/Left to reckon with their abject failure.
1. First, here’s Rush on the Obamacare escapees:
2. GOP Sen. Pat Roberts was on the floor yesterday lambasting health care rationing czar Donald Berwick during a hearing interrupted by a Senate vote. Roberts would have addressed the waiver issue had he been able to ask Dr. Berwick his questions. From his statement:
…I have been shocked by the number of Obamacare waivers that have been coming out of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the New York Times, one hundred and eleven waivers have been granted to employers to allow them to avoid the new health insurance mandates.
The only thing more shocking than the number of waivers is who is getting them. Would you believe that they are some of the most ardent supporters of health care reform?
Unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Federation of Teachers, and the Transport Workers Union have all applied for and been granted waivers from the rules.
The fact is, Obamacare is bad for business, bad for workers, bad for seniors, and bad for taxpayers.
Dr. Berwick: When will the American people get a waiver from Obamacare?
Repeal this bill.
Sen. Roberts has more on the waivers here.
3. Here’s my report on Hannity from Wednesday night:
4. Amanda Carpenter tweeted an excellent suggestion yesterday: “Whoever writes the ObamaCare repeal bill should title it ‘The Great American Waiver Act.’”
5. There is now a bipartisan Obamacare waiver bill to free states from the federal mandates. As I noted a few months ago, Obamacare supporter Ron Wyden has been clamoring to free his state of Oregon of some of the requirements. He introduced legislation with GOP Sen. Scott Brown to loosen even more of the rules for states:
A Democrat and a Republican teamed up in the U.S. Senate Thursday to offer legislation that would give states the flexibility to implement their own healthcare approaches when the federal overhaul goes into full effect in 2014.
The proposal by Democrat Ron Wyden and Republican Scott Brown moves up the date when states can apply for waivers from the federal law in order to implement their own approaches.
The law, which passed in March, currently allows states to apply for waivers in 2017.
Under the Wyden and Brown proposal, states could apply for an exemption from some requirements of the reform law — including the mandate that everyone purchase insurance and the employer penalty for not providing coverage — if they offer an alternative that is considered at least as effective and affordable.
“States shouldn’t be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits all healthcare plan.
6. O.K. Industries in Fort Smith, Arkansas has released a statement on its waiver:
Mike Evans, director of benefits for O.K. Industries, issued the following statement about the waiver:
“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. For plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, the law requires, among other things, the immediate elimination of lifetime dollar limits on benefits and a graduated increase in annual benefit limits.
“We offer our employees a choice between two health insurance plans. One has lower annual and lifetime limits than the other and the premium paid by the employee is lower as well. Our employees choose which plan they wish to participate in.
“Under PPACA we would no longer be able to offer our employees the option of lower limits in exchange for lower premiums. As a result of national news coverage about companies who were faced with cancelling insurance for their employees or raising their premiums drastically the government developed a waiver program.
“The program requires plan sponsors to apply for the waver and to show that covered employees would be negatively impacted by a loss of coverage or significant increase in premiums if these plans were not allowed to continue. We believe continuing to offer both health plans provides a significant benefit to our employees and their family members so we chose to apply for a waiver for the plan with lower limits.
“O.K. Industries, Inc. received approval of our waiver on November 4. This approval will allow us to keep the plan in place for the 2011 plan year. We are required to reapply each year until 2014. As the law stands now, beginning in 2014 we will not be able to offer this plan to employees.”
7. For those of you who are business owners with so-called “mini-med” low-cost insurance plans who haven’t heard about the waiver application process, go to the HHS website here for more info.
***
Free every American. Full repeal is the ultimate waiver.
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My daughter is interested in a happy-meal waiver, too.
Repeal every thing these idiots passed.
So these guys can apply each year until after the 2012 election and the Obama Admin is winding down (assuming they get re-elected) and then the waiver process is gone and we’re all screwed. And the people that spent millions of lobbying dollars trying to get the law passed are first in line for waiver? Oh I don’t think so.
These guys bring a whole new meaning to the term political corruption.
I can’t blame any company that was against the plan asking for a waiver, but anyone that supported it should NOT get a waiver.
Obowmao: “We will not waiver in our resolve to defeat
Al QaedaObamascare!’ Totus?!Morning Michelle …
Actually as I read the HHS webpage of granted waivers there are in fact more than 111 waivers granted since the statement there says all those listed received “one or more” waivers … I think it would be more correct to say that
111 applicants have been granted an unknown number of waivers for an unknown number of health plans …
I would love to know the actual number of plans involved … your example of O.K. Industries demonstrates my belief as it actually involves at least 2 different employer offered plans that are affected … and I am pretty confident that as a result the actual number of plans getting waivers is more likely 300 and up …
Morning. Yes, that’s why I wrote “AT LEAST 111″ in my column on Wednesday.
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/11/17/dude-wheres-my-obamacare-waiver/
Michelle … sorry … I guess I missed that nuance when I read the column article yesterday … thanks for all you do … as always …
The irony that the supporters of ObamaScare have to apply for waivers to avoid ObamaScare is just so typical of the liberal-elitist way of life.
We need to take the nation back in 2012. And not just from the Liberals. From the RINO’s as well.
There were some wins this go-round, but conservatives need to win elections like Alaska’s senate race. The liberal vote making machine needs it’s plug pulled.
NJ-Aviator … re: Alaska … yeah … how about election laws that have filing dates to run that end prior to any and all primary elections so that people like Murkowski and Crist can’t just suddenly decide to run anyway after losing … I can pretty much guarantee that the Dems voted in Alaska to prevent another Tea Party victory as opposed to truly voting “for” Murkowski since they knew the Dem candidate didn’t stand a chance of getting elected …
I want a waiver from all the communist crap this adminisration is coming up with. That will require either removing the ineligible usurper (no GOP with balls to do that) or defeating him in 2012 with someone other than RINO’s like Romney, Huckabee, Pawlenty, Gingrich, etc/.
I hope that factory that produces wooden children’s arrows that got money from TARP also has a waiver.
These “waivers” are strongly reminiscent of the first class passengers boarding the lifeboats on the Titanic. There is not enough space for everyone, and if you’re in second or third class you get to make way for your betters.
re Desertlover@11:01
While I support Murky’s right to run her write-in campaign,I think you are onto something that really should be looked into.I think your idea would solve a lot of problems.
slightly OT…..
I just found out that, due to the new healthcare law, I will not be able to purchase over-the-counter medications with my Flex Spending account card.
I will need to manually apply for reimbursement…and attach a PRESCRIPTION for the OTC medications!!!
So….I will need to see a doctor ($20 copay + the balance to insurance) to get a script for a bottle of Motrin for my kid’s fever in order to get reimbursed for the $7 bottle of medicine.
Guess what…my taxes just went up! I have to purchase OTC meds with after-tax money instead of pre-tax money!
And I thought that “if I like my coverage and want to keep it, I could” /sarc
Will I need to have a pharmacist fill the script?? for an OTC med??? How much does THAT add to the cost of healthcare??
It’s sad that our current prez is a lying p.o.s….
The Wyden/Brown bill does not truly address the issues that Obamacare causes it just places a bandaid on it….You know, kinda like taking pain pills instead of getting the surgery like Obama suggested.
Where do I apply for an Income Tax waiver?
If I’m turned down, I gladly accept a Charles Rangel style censure from the IRS instead of actually paying taxes.
Our company has a Cadillac Plan for all employees.
Guess we will apply for a waiver, as we will have to have salary cuts to cover the increased tax paid by our company.
Wyden is our Oregon senator, though a New York liberal. Do not trust this guy for one second. He had his chance during the ObamaCare vote and blew it.
*The GOP needs to plow ahead with repeal early and often in 2011; Things will unravel quickly on this disaster, and bankrupcy, as in Ireland, looms as a real possibility, all because of Obamacare, the worst legislation ever passed by Congress!
Perhaps companies should follow the Coward-Pile On strategy and flood HHS with millions of requests for waivers.
Yep, repeal the health care bill, and repeal the prescription bill, as well.
I like that idea.
Because eventually, some of the waivers will go through. Then as the number of waivers starts increasing it will be completely obvious that no one wants this socialist piece of garbage.