jenny erikson
Jenny EriksonDuring the health care reform debates, President Obama made a point to say, "If you like your doctor, you're going to be able to keep your doctor. If you like your plan, keep your plan."

Thanks to government waivers granted in late September, nearly one million workers at McDonald's, Jack in the Box, and 28 other firms won't lose the health insurance they already have. Under the new health care law, the organizations would have been required to raise the minimum coverage of their part-time employees or drop coverage altogether.

That means that nearly a million workers would have been out of luck in the health insurance department, since government plans won't kick in until 2014.

This is just one more example of how illogical the new health care law is. Instead of simplifying the process and creating real reform, all it does is create new mandates that will be impossible for companies to comply with.

Under the new law, the workers at those 30 companies thought they'd be getting better benefits at the government's insistence. Instead, their bosses got an exemption. Is that hope and change? Or more of the same?

Even more upsetting is the fact that only 30 (large) organizations got the exemption. What about the smaller businesses -- the ones that employ the majority of the American workforce? How are they going to come up with the extra money to expand health care coverage to their employees? They're going to have to cut costs (fire some employees, use cheaper materials, etc.) or pass that cost along to the consumer.

As a hungry consumer on a tight budget, where would you go to get a burger? The family-owned restaurant down the street that has to charge $8 just to cover their rising costs? Or will you choose McDonald's, where you can get a Big Mac for a fraction of the price? Most people won't be able to afford the $8 burger, which means fewer customers for Dad's Burgers down the street. Eventually, Dad won't be able to keep his business open.

Government regulation doesn't help the middle class; it hurts them. Big business will find a way to survive because it's in bed with big government.

The new health care law isn't the end of our health care woes. It is just another example of big government screwing over the little guys.

 

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