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what do you guys make of the 100+ exceptions to the new healthcare "law" made to various companies and unions? seems like, if you're big enough, and connected enough, then the "law" doesn't apply to you. it just becomes another arbitrary load of ****, dictating even more of our lives.

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To me it is a "no dua" moment. Obamacare was all about power, and it rewards those who have power and hurts those who do not. So all of these exceptions just shows that Obamacare took us down another step to serfdom, with us peons not able to get exceptions and the aristocrats get them.

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Originally Posted by Argan Johnson:
Obamacare took us down another step to serfdom

ditto

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Not sure I know anything about it.  However, Big Money does get away with murder most of the time.

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it's now up to 200+ companies with exemptions. i think this is clearly a sign that obamacare is damaging to the economy, and that the administration and congress's claims of it being a cost saver, were untrue. otherwise, none of these companies would want or need an exemption.

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here's more on the story.


The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to one provision of the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

One of the more recognizable business names included on the newly-expanded list of waivers issued by the feds is that of Waffle House, which received a waiver on November 23 for health coverage that covers 3,947 enrollees.

Another familiar name was that of Universal Orlando, which runs a variety of very popular resorts in the Orlando, Florida area.  Universal was given a waiver for plans that cover 668 workers.

These waivers deal with limited health benefit plans, sometimes referred to as "mini-med" policies, which companies as large as McDonald's use for some its employees.

The plan have limits on how much can be paid out in coverage, limits which would be phased out under the new health reform law.

The feds though have granted waivers from that law, amid concern that certain groups would drop their health insurance programs entirely.  Those waivers are good for one year, and can be considered for renewal.

A spokeswoman for Waffle House refused to explain the need for the waiver, saying "because Waffle House is a private company, we are going to decline to comment."

As for Universal Orlando, a spokesman defended the waiver in an email on Monday evening.

"The new legislation would have left our part-time workers without their medical coverage," said Tom Schroder of Universal Orlando Public Relations.  

"We sought the waiver so that we could continue to provide them with the coverage they need and deserve," Schroder added.

The information on the waivers, which is buried deep on the web site of the U.S. Health & Human Services Department, shows that since it was last updated in mid-November, the number of waivers issued has gone from 111 to 222, covering organizations as diverse as the "Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Ogdensburg" to the "Pearson Candy Company."

You can find a list of all of the 222 waivers at http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/approved_applications_for_waiver.html

And there are more unions who have received waivers in this latest batch, like the Bricklayers Local 1 of MD, VA and DC, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, the Indiana Teamsters Health Benefits Fund, Service Employees International Union Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund, and more are listed.

The waivers are also going to a number of average sounding companies like Telesis Management Corporation, Trans-System Inc., Varsity Contractors Inc. and Moore's Retread & Tire of the Ark-La-Tex, Inc.

The waivers seem likely to draw hearings in the House next year for a different reason, as Republicans demand to know why Democrats would push so hard for health reform legislation, only to see the feds issue several hundred waivers from some of the details.

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I have a feeling the whole thing is going to be repealed soon enough.  Didnt a fed judge rule it was unconstitutional?

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
I have a feeling the whole thing is going to be repealed soon enough.  Didnt a fed judge rule it was unconstitutional?

he ruled that only the federal mandate was unconstitution, but only in virginia. we'll have to see how the rest of the states' suits go, but this is now precedent, and a good sign. all of these decisions will be appealed however, and the SCOTUS will have to ultimately decide. without the mandate though, obamacare falls completely apart. in order to make it work, they had to force all the young healthy people to join the system, thus helping to pay for all the older unhealthy patience.