Value Menu: Food Retailers Cutting Hours, Insurance In Wake Of Obamacare

President Obama and House Democrats from all across the country have called for policies to “strengthen” workers in the days since the State of the Union .

Here’s what he said Tuesday night:

“[Raising the minimum wage] would raise the incomes of millions of working families,” said Obama. “It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets. And a whole lot of folks out there would probably need less help from government.”

Yet a new report from The Financial Times this morning documents how their own signature policy—government takeover of healthcare—is harming workers and causing businesses to make tough choices.

“Nigel Travis, head of Dunkin’ Brands, said his doughnut chain was lobbying to change the definition of “full-time” employees eligible for coverage from those working at least 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week.

“Some restaurants, including Wendy’s and Taco Bell franchises, have explored slashing worker hours so fewer employees qualify for health insurance, arguing that they cannot afford the additional healthcare costs. Other businesses are deliberately keeping headcounts below 50.

“Mr Dillon said Kroger intended to continue covering all full-time employees but maintained that parts of the law were ‘simply not workable’.”

…

“Companies with more than 50 workers have to pay a penalty if they do not provide full-time employees with health insurance. The employees can instead buy private coverage subsidised by the government on new insurance exchanges.”

“Darden, a US restaurant chain, last year said it was considering slashing its workers’ weekly hours to below the 30-hour threshold but later retreated from the plan after a backlash.”

“The Obama administration maintains that the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, will improve access to insurance while reducing healthcare costs. A spokeswoman for the government’s health department said that non-partisan studies showed it would have a negligible effect on the labour market.”

 

This is another example of President Obama and Democrats talking a good game, but refusing to own up to the consequences that their own policies have created. Their own disastrous healthcare law is costing jobs and benefits for the same workers they’re claiming to help.

If they’re serious about strengthening the economy from the bottom-up, they’ll rethink their top-down government takeover of healthcare.