Aaaaaaaand, Obamacare claims yet another casualty.
OK. A few more.
First up, Trader Joe's. "Trader Joe's has told workers who log fewer than 30 hours a week that they will need to find insurance on the Obamacare exchanges next year, according to a confidential memo from the grocer's chief executive."
In the memo to staff dated Aug. 30, Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane said the company will cut part-timers a check for $500 in January and help guide them toward finding a new plan under the Affordable Care Act. The company will continue to offer health coverage to workers who carry 30 hours or more on average. …
A current Trader Joe's worker described the coverage she'll likely lose as "one of the best parts about the job." (The employee requested anonymity since she isn't authorized to speak to the media.) She said she pays only $35 per paycheck, or $70 per month, for a plan that generally covers 80 percent of her medical costs, carries a reasonable $500 deductible and includes prescription drug coverage.
"There are several folks I work with who are there for the insurance as much as anything, mostly folks with young families," she said. "I can say that when I opened and read the letter yesterday my reaction was pure panic, followed quickly by anger."
But wait! There's more!
Indiana University - our (very liberal, by the way) university here in Bloomington, Indiana - has cut workers because of Obamacare, too.
And let's not forget Kalamazoo, Michigan based Stryker, which has laid off more than a thousand people, because of Obamacare's awesomeness:
“There are also new taxes affecting West Michigan industry, in particular, that took effect this year,” says a local reporter. “There’s a new 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. According to some reports, Kalamazoo based Stryker has laid off more than a thousand people because of it–and owes the federal government upwards of $100 million dollars this year alone. Late last week a Stryker spokesperson told me that Obamacare will cost the company fully 20 percent of its total research and development investments.
“And although it’s no secret that drug makers like Pfizer stand to profit billions because of the increased numbers of insured Americans and the corresponding increased need for medications–they’re being hit with an excise tax as well – on brand name drugs–running in to the tens of billions of dollars.”
But just remember how FREEEEEEEEEE it is, y'all. And how everyone is going to be insured. And how no one is going to be affected by this. And how not a dime will be added to our deficit. And how FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE it is.
Unicorns and puppy breath and liberals!
YAY!
http://chicksontheright.com/posts/item/24704-oh-look-obamacare-s-sucking-again