Employers dropping coverage for thousands of spouses over ObamaCare costs

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

Republican lawmakers are raising new concerns about ObamaCare after several large employers announced they are dropping health coverage for some employee spouses due to rising costs under the new law.

 

Both the University of Virginia and UPS told their employees recently they are no longer offering spousal coverage to those able to obtain insurance elsewhere; meaning thousands of Americans will no longer be able to choose the benefits they prefer.

 

UVA said Wednesday this is only one of many “major changes” coming to their health plans as a result of ObamaCare. The university says the changes are necessary because the law is projected to add $7.3 million to the cost of the university’s health plan in 2014 alone.

 

“The modified plan will provide new options and reward those who participate in wellness programs,” UVA’s Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Susan Carkeek said in a press release. “But we must make adjustments or face millions of dollars in rising costs, fees and taxes that would be passed along to employees.”

 

Similarly, UPS partially blamed the new health law for the change, which is estimated to affect roughly 15,000 employee spouses.

 

The rising cost of health care "combined with the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost," UPS said.

 

The trend has drawn the ire of Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who cite it as a clear example the Obama administration is not following through on its promise that, “if you like your plan, you can keep it.”

 

“American families who are already grappling with higher health care costs under the law are also coming face-to-face with the stark reality that they will lose the coverage they have and like,” their office said in a statement Wednesday.

________

 

Spousal non-privilege.

 

[Valin]

@WestVirginaRebel

 

Economic Canaries and Obamacare is the Cat

Clark S. Judge

8/22/13

 

Just as the Washington Establishment is trumpeting the economys revival, an alarming other story is gaining traction. It isnt a new edition of the headline grabbing end to the stimulus tale. Instead, it is of obscure financial data that may be signaling bad time ahead and pointing to a cause. Call it the canary in our economic mineshaft.

 

The first piece of data is flagged this morning at the Wall Street Journals MarketWatch (Market Watch). Columnist Mark Hubert looks at the New York Stock Exchanges index of advancing versus declining stocks. The index has been going down since late July, much like the S&P and Dow Jones indexes. But recent Advance/Decline index numbers suggest something more. The indexs drop is potentially quite worrisome, according to several market technicians I monitor, Hubert writes, because it means that an unexpectedly few stocks were participating in the broad markets march into new-high territory. If that analysis is correct, he adds, the stock markets decline over the past couple of weeks is not a surprise.

 

The second hint of economic storms comes from Gallup. As Breitbarts John Nolte reported yesterday (Nick Nolte), the polling firm runs its own surveys of unemployment. Like the governments numbers, Gallups are based on a super-large sample, not the 500-750 person panels so many pollsters use and that were so infamously unstable in the past presidential elections. Every 30 days Gallup questions 30,000 adults on their employment status with a rolling average taken over the full 30 day period. Unusual for this sampling, Gallup is now showing a big spread between its numbers and the governments. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics pegged unemployment at 7.4% at the end of July (when Gallup showed it at a compatible 7.7%), as of yesterday Gallup showed 8.9%. This would be the highest level in a year and a half and, if borne out by subsequent sampling, points to a rapid and unusual downturn in the economy. I say unusual because drops in the stock market such as weve seen in recent weeks usually precede declines in unemployment rates by months.

 

(Snip)

[SrWoodchuck]

Darrell Issa's [tweeted] reasons not to stop Obamacare: http://www.rightwingnews.com/obamacare/conservative-congressman-darrell-issa-tweets-surprising-list-reasons-not-to-stop-obamacare/

 

 

 

Via RightWingNews