ObamaCares saves billions for customers

Health care reform rules aimed at pressuring health insurance companies to become more efficient saved consumers nearly $1.5 billion last year, according to a study released by the Commonwealth Fund on Wednesday.

The health care law enacted by President Barack Obama requires that health insurance companies selling plans to individual consumers spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on medical care. Health insurance companies selling plans to groups of at least 50 people, such as employers offering benefits to workers, must spend 85 percent of premiums on medical care. Companies that fail to meet these standards under the so-called medical loss ratio rule must refund the difference to their customers.

Health insurance companies responded to this requirement by cutting overhead, delivering rebates and, in some cases, reducing profits, according to the study, which was authored by Michael McCue of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and Mark Hall of Wake Forest University of Winston-Salem, N.C. The study was issued by the Commonwealth Fund, a research institution.



Health insurance companies issued $1.1 billion in rebates and cut administrative costs and profit by $350 million because of the rules, according to the study. The researchers used reports filed by health insurers to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a group of state regulators, to calculate their findings.

People who buy health insurance on their own, rather than get coverage at work, saw the biggest benefits, the researchers concluded. These consumers got $394 million in rebates, and the companies providing insurance in the individual market reduced overhead by $209 million, according to the report. Health insurance companies saw profits disappear for individual products when compared to 2010. Profit margins fell from 0.15 percent to -1.2 percent, the study found, with profits falling by $351 million.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/0 ... 47380.html

The taxes don't start to kick in till Jan 1.

Sure- the government has mandated how much profit the insurance industry can make, and if you
think that's good news then you don't know much about how a market economy works.

These companies will begin to change their own business model in order to limit their risk,
since their upside has been limited by government regulation.
There are unintended consequences that will result from that - it means that the upside is very limited
for this company. Who will invest in a company with a limited upside and unlimited downside?

I hope you will- because I won't.

But here's what is startting to happen- companies are cutting back on full time employees- and thousands of other companies will just stop adding jobs, especially full time jobs...

Prepping for Obamacare, Chain Cuts Workers' Hours
The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in
a test aimed at limiting the impact of looming health coverage requirements.

Darden Restaurants declined to give details but said the test is only in restaurants in four markets
across the country. The test entails increasing the number of workers on part-time status, meaning
they work less than 30 hours a week. Under the new health care act, companies will be required to
provide health care to full-time employees by 2014. That would significantly boost labor costs for businesses.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49343911?__source=yahoo%7Crelated%7Cstory%7Ctext%7C&par=yahoo

The good news- most of those getting their hours cut are Democrats! Elections have consequences.

And so the fun begins- we will see thousands of full time jobs go away next year before the 2014 deadline, it will transform America-
just as Obama promised.
Hundreds of large corporations are already planning to lay off thousands of employees...

The stories are endless!

Wall Street's cost cuts and dismissals, which have helped erase more than 300,000 financial-
industry jobs in the past two years, are far from over.

Citigroup Inc. (C)'s announcement yesterday of plans to eliminate 11,000 positions in units spanning
equities trading to consumer banking is the latest sign of strain from a market slowdown, stiffer
capital rules and weak economic growth. Lenders around the globe are likely to trim more jobs if
revenue doesn't rebound sharply next year, analysts and recruiters said.

"The knives are sharpened and ready," said Jason Kennedy, chief executive officer of London-based
search firm Kennedy Group.

You post about the 1.5 billion that Obamacare has saved Americans- but you fail to mention the hundreds of billions it will cost America in lost jobs, opportunity and in a supressed economy that will result.

BearMtnHIB wrote: The taxes don't start to kick in till Jan 1.

Sure- the government has mandated how much profit the insurance industry can make, and if you
think that's good news then you don't know much about how a market economy works.

These companies will begin to change their own business model in order to limit their risk,
since their upside has been limited by government regulation.
There are unintended consequences that will result from that - it means that the upside is very limited
for this company. Who will invest in a company with a limited upside and unlimited downside?

I hope you will- because I won't.

But here's what is startting to happen- companies are cutting back on full time employees- and thousands of other companies will just stop adding jobs, especially full time jobs...

Prepping for Obamacare, Chain Cuts Workers' Hours
The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in
a test aimed at limiting the impact of looming health coverage requirements.

Darden Restaurants declined to give details but said the test is only in restaurants in four markets
across the country. The test entails increasing the number of workers on part-time status, meaning
they work less than 30 hours a week. Under the new health care act, companies will be required to
provide health care to full-time employees by 2014. That would significantly boost labor costs for businesses.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49343911?__source=yahoo%7Crelated%7Cstory%7Ctext%7C&par=yahoo

The good news- most of those getting their hours cut are Democrats! Elections have consequences.

And so the fun begins- we will see thousands of full time jobs go away next year before the 2014 deadline, it will transform America-
just as Obama promised.
Hundreds of large corporations are already planning to lay off thousands of employees...

The stories are endless!

Wall Street's cost cuts and dismissals, which have helped erase more than 300,000 financial-
industry jobs in the past two years, are far from over.

Citigroup Inc. (C)'s announcement yesterday of plans to eliminate 11,000 positions in units spanning
equities trading to consumer banking is the latest sign of strain from a market slowdown, stiffer
capital rules and weak economic growth. Lenders around the globe are likely to trim more jobs if
revenue doesn't rebound sharply next year, analysts and recruiters said.

"The knives are sharpened and ready," said Jason Kennedy, chief executive officer of London-based
search firm Kennedy Group.

Oh, you mean like this:

Darden Restaurants Says It Won't Bump Full-Time Workers To Part-Time Status After Negative Publicity

NEW YORK -- The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster says it won't bump any full-time workers down to part-time status, after its tests aimed at limiting health care costs resulted in a publicity backlash that took a bite out of sales.

The company, based in Orlando, Fla., is set to announce Thursday that none of its current full-time employees will have their status changed as a result of the new regulations. The move will come just two days after the company lowered its profit outlook for the year, citing failed promotions and negative publicity from its tests that used more part-time employees. The tests were aimed at keeping down costs tied to new health care regulations, which will require large companies to provide insurance to full-time workers starting in 2014.

After Darden's tests were reported in October, the company received a flood of feedback from customers through its website, on Facebook and in restaurants, said Bob McAdam, who heads government affairs and community relations for Darden. Additionally, he said that internal surveys showed both employee and customer satisfaction declined at restaurants where the tests were in place.

"What that taught us is that our restaurants perform better when we have full-time hourly employees involved," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/0 ... f=business

Papa John's, Applebee's And Others Pay Huge Price For Anti-Obamacare Politicking

It turns out that being a good corporate citizen is as important to selling pizzas as the thinness of the crust or the quality of the cheese. If you don’t believe it, just ask Papa John CEO, John Schnatter.

As covered—and criticized—in this column in great detail, Mr. Schnatter decided to mix his politics with his pepperoni when suggesting that he would be cutting the work hours for Papa John employees in order to bring them below the 30 hour per week threshold that would require Schnatter to provide his employees with healthcare benefits.

It turns out, the pizza eating public did not approve.

Indeed, so serious was the reaction that Schnatter was forced to publish an op-ed piece where he sought to convince us that he never really intended to cut back worker hours but had simply been speculating on what he might do in response to the legislation.

Fast food server, Applebee’s, possessed a healthy Buzz score of 35 before Zane Terkel, CEO of one of the company’s largest franchisees, appeared on television to complain about the law and to announce that he would not be building more restaurants or hiring any more workers in response to his objections to Obamacare.

Applebee’s “pre-Terkel” Buzz score of 35 now sits at a pathetic 5. I don’t imagine Mr. Terkel will be getting many Christmas cards this year from other Applebee’s franchise owners.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2 ... liticking/

Though it has many faults, one great aspect of the free market – the actual free market and not what we have on Wall Street – is that customers have choices. Since the Obama re-election victory in November, a few CEOs and business executives couldn’t accept that they lost, and chose instead to bash President Obama and Obamacare.

It was especially strange to hear one CEO, Papa John’s’ John Schnatter, complain about the supposedly high costs of Obamacare forcing him to limit his workers’ hours, while he somehow found the money to build a moat around his mansion and a personal golf course. He’s also the same CEO who is facing a $250 million class action lawsuit for sending text messages to customers.

Then there was the local Denny’s franchiseewho came up with the bright idea to tack on a 5% surcharge to every check to supposedly pay for Obamacare.

Or Applebee’s NY franchisee who claimed Obamacare may force him to institute a hiring freeze.

The result of the public tantrums? Well, let’s just say this is why smart CEOs stay out of politics in public.

http://americablog.com/2012/12/obamacar ... ebees.html

Papa John’s, Applebee’s, and Denny’s were measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents, “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” Results were filtered adults 18+ who have eaten at casual dining restaurants in the past month. Papa John’s Buzz score high point for the month came on Election Day – November 6th – with a score of 32. Eight days later, the score had dropped 10 points down to 22, when the spam text lawsuit was unveiled. A few days later, Papa John’s dropped below Pizza Hut’s score and is presently at 4.

http://www.brandindex.com/article/anti- ... toric-buzz



Yeah, I guess you pull that AynRandroid crap on your customers, and involve yourself in the political fallout of the American people at your own peril.

HINT: There's obviously MORE OF US than there are of YOU. The middle-class/working-class haters and "job-creators" that lose sight of who they are selling to, and the backlash that can occur when you think advertising your hatred of your own employees is "cool", will pay a price...at the cash register, and in their stock-prices. And the sociopaths that think they can continue to operate as if they DIDN'T lose the election--(BTW, you DID lose the election)--will find themselves backtracking....

So, jus' keep doin' what yer doin'.... Watching these corporations and greedy CEO's take it in the shorts is way entertaining...

So corporations just need to be more discreet about how they limit health care costs? Like attrition and then replacing them with contract employees, etc.

FredHayek wrote: So corporations just need to be more discreet about how they limit health care costs? Like attrition and then replacing them with contract employees, etc.

Yes, I bet you really think that if they just don't advertise it, that the public and the press won't find out about it... rofllol

No wonder you guys lost the election...

...or in the case of my company, layoffs.

That's what will happen Freddie- the smart ones will not advertise it- they will just not hire that full time position. That's how it will work. One company after another will just stop hiring full time- use more sub-contractors and part time people.

And it's going to happen by the hundreds of thousands next year.

Yeah, that's why there have been 5.3 million jobs added since 2008...(when Bush only created 3 million in 8 years). Manufacturing is coming back. Apple just announced they are going to build a new plant in the U.S. to repatriate all those jobs and build Macs in the U.S.; the auto industry is going gangbusters, etc.

God, it must really suck to be you...

It's gonna be a looooong 4 years....

Both the auto industry and home sales are still below what they were in 2006, pre-Pelosi.

And Apple can afford to move manufacturing back to the states because real wages have fallen under Bernanke. You may have a job paying you $10 an hour, but your prices for gasoline and food have doubled.

Apple says it will build only one model computer in the USA- currently they build zero models here. I think it's just a political move, and sure some people will pay the extra for a product built here.

But that one product will only be possible to build here because they make a good profit on all the stuff they build in China.