One view on Health Care bill Waivers
Jason Millman said,
There is “no basis” for the waiver investigation, Waxman said in the letter. More than 700 waivers have been granted to unions, businesses and other organizations, and Republicans are claiming the waivers are either a gift to Democratic allies or proof the reform law doesn’t work. Waxman took issue with the GOP’s request for the Department of Health and Human Services to disclose e-mails about waiver requests since the department has posted each granted request online.
“If you have evidence that one of these waivers was granted improperly, a request for the internal communications relating to the waiver would be appropriate,” Waxman said. “In the absence of any evidence of misconduct, asking for this much information for 222 waivers appears to be either another fishing expedition or an attempt to bog down the agency with excessive document requests.”
read more at
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/141949-house-dem-says-committee-abusing-oversight-powers
Second View
Fox Business' Elizabeth MacDonald contributed to this report.
Many unions had fought hard for health reform and were dismissive about fears that companies would simply dump their coverage if health reform passed. But unions are now demanding to be exempt from the new law.
Many of the nation’s biggest unions also had backed President Obama's campaign. Early in the health-reform debate, unions won exemptions to the tax on so-called Cadillac health-care plans -- those with the most generous benefits.
Workers affected by these exemptions are now left to wonder whether their low-cost health-insurance plans will continue to provide the coverage they need.
Companies who do not get waivers are left wondering whether it's fair that they must follow the health-reform rules and regulations that every other company in the United States must follow, while their competitors who got waivers do not.
Read more at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/08/big-companies-unions-win-health-care-waivers/#ixzz1DZjCpqbr
My View
Make a choice and deal with the consequences.
According to www.mediamatter.org, the list of cities, states, businesses or unions receiving health care bill waivers jumped from 200 to more than 700 in the past month. According to www.foxnews.com, 40 percent of those numbers are unions.
These waivers relieve companies of the obligation to provide health care to their employees for one year.
According to Fox News, the list of waivers includes dozens of unions which supported passing the health care bill.
One example is the United Federation of Teachers, which includes over 3,000 instructors. This union supported the health care bill, and now they are getting a waiver for it.
Also, the organizations that are getting the waivers have low-wage workers that need the health care bill. Examples of this include organizations like McDonald’s and Jack in the Box. According to www.usatoday.com, these two organizations will not “be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees.”
The low-wage employees are the ones Obama was trying to reach.
Why are these organizations getting waivers?
Though there are many unions receiving waivers that were not in favor of the health care bill, the ones that did are showing a horrifying example of “do as I say, not as I do” syndrome. These unions voted for this change; they supported the health care bill.
So why are they now being exempt from parts of the consequences of that choice?
Here it is in a nutshell: Some of the unions supported the health care bill. They are in support of the United States following the rules and regulations that go with the bill, and, now, they are turning around and getting waivers for it.
Making the rest of the U.S. pay for the system while granting a select few temporary waivers is wrong. If they supported it, why shouldn’t they be held accountable for every part of it? Why are some groups being exempt?
If you support it, you live by it. Those who chose to support the health care bill should be ready and willing to live by all of the rules and regulations of it, not just parts of it. It is just like getting your driver’s license.
When you receive your driver’s license, you agree to live by the laws and standards of the road. You agree to go the speed limit even when you are late for something and going the speed limit or being late is not in your best interest.
Similarly, if you agreed with and supported the health care bill, you should be held to all of the rules and regulations of that bill.
The president’s administration granting more and more waivers is a sign that this health care bill was not the best idea.
What better way to say “you’re right we messed up,” than by exempting the groups that would complain the most — without really saying so, of course.
Do your research before you vote for or support something. Do not support blindly. Do not vote for something then get a waiver so you do not have to deal with the consequences of your choice.
The unions that supported the health care bill and are now getting waivers need to stop living the ”do as I say, not as I do” law.
These unions need to deal with the consequences of their choices. Honestly, if they didn’t like the rules in the first place, why did they show support for the bill?
This issue is a matter of integrity. If you support something, stick with it, live by it and stand by it.
Or, admit that you were wrong in your decision of supporting it in the first place.
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