UPDATED: Hope and Change: Mickey D’s to drop insurance

More of that Hope and Change in progress…..

Via the WSJ:

McDonald’s Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.

McDonald’s warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. Janet Adamy discusses. Also, Neal Lipschutz discusses the exit plan that the U.S. has agreed on to exit the governments interest in AIG.

The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers’ health plans as the law ripples through the real world.

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.

The requirement concerns the percentage of premiums that must be spent on benefits.

While many restaurants don’t offer health coverage, McDonald’s provides mini-med plans for workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. A single worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week to get coverage up to $10,000 a year.

Last week, a senior McDonald’s official informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain’s insurer won’t meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80% to 85% of its premium revenue on medical care.

McDonald’s and trade groups say the percentage, called a medical loss ratio, is unrealistic for mini-med plans because of high administrative costs owing to frequent worker turnover, combined with relatively low spending on claims.

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.

McDonald’s move is the latest indication of possible unintended consequences from the health overhaul. Dozens of companies have taken charges against earnings—totaling more than $1 billion—over a tax change in prescription-drug benefits for retirees.

More recently, insurers have proposed a round of double-digit premium increases and said new coverage mandates in the law are partly to blame. HHS has criticized the proposed increases as unwarranted.

Democrats, looking toward midterm elections in which the health overhaul is an issue, say it already has stopped insurance practices they call abusive, has given rebates to seniors with high out-of-pocket prescription costs and has allowed parents to keep children on their insurance plans until they turn 26.

McDonald’s, in a memo to federal officials, said “it would be economically prohibitive for our carrier to continue offering” the mini-med plan unless it got an exemption from the requirement to spend 80% to 85% of premiums on benefits. Officials said McDonald’s would probably have to hit the 85% figure, which applies to larger group plans. Its insurer, BCS Insurance Group of Oak Brook Terrace, Ill., declined to comment.

McDonald’s didn’t disclose what the plan’s current medical loss ratio was.

The issue of limited-benefit plans has also hit colleges, which face the same 80-to-85% requirement beginning next year.

“Having to drop our current mini-med offering would represent a huge disruption to our 29,500 participants,” said McDonald’s memo, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “It would deny our people this current benefit that positively impacts their lives and protects their health—and would leave many without an affordable, comparably designed alternative until 2014.”

Sorry, I have zero pity for them at all. These McDonald’s employees were stupid enough to vote for Obama, they should just take what comes to them and shut the hell up. I mean, they knew this man was a Democrat and they knew he was going to do all of this; so, I really do not believe that they have the right to gripe. Now, McDonald’s is going to have take their insurance; because of a stupid, misguided, moronic healthcare bill; that me and every other Conservative blogger out there warned them about. But did the liberals or the American people listen? No. So, I say — FUCK ‘EM! Let them go without insurance! Serves them right for voting for a “Magic Negro” Marxist.

Not like that these people really serve any real purpose anyhow. McDonald’s food is bad for you, and most of it tastes like shit anyhow; not to mention the people that work there. They are in that, what I like to call 15% category — they are the leeches of America. So, if they died off, it would be a savings to America anyhow. So, who cares if they have insurance. We real Americans would have to pay for it anyhow. So, fuck ’em, let ’em die off. No big loss anyhow.

Countdown to being called a racist, a hater, and more in 5…..4…..3…..2…….

Others: protein wisdom,  Right Wing News, Outside the Beltway, American Power, Betsy’s Page, Power Line and GayPatriot, All American Blogger

Update: McDonald’s Denies the Story, of course…:

Video: (via the right scoop)

The Right Scoop Says:

My guess is that they are trying to avoid the public demonization that would likely come from this administration and this Congress – ya know, those greedy white fatcats stuffing their pockets at the oppression and exploitation of their employees. Yeah that demonization.

Plus, it sounds like they aren’t ready to announce this, and want to avoid the internal implications this could have on employees. Either way, the medical loss ratio is what it is, thanks to ObamaCare, and I wonder how long these insurance companies will be able to stay afloat. Hopefully, long enough for us to regain control and roll this disaster of a health plan back.

Sounds about right to me. Looks like this might be a very interesting story developing here. I will be following it.