Affordable Health Care Law under review by SCOTUS

[Moonlight J]

Looking forward to the people that want to stand up for what PJ & Denny's are doing by frequenting those businesses...and then getting obese from it and relying more on their healthcare.

[Erik]

What I don't understand is why are we being asked to pay 5% more when they're going to cut the employee hours so that they don't have to offer them coverage. Shouldn't it be one or the other, not both?

You and I know enough about Obamacare to know that. The average American doesn't. Businesses will do whatever they can to cut costs and increase revenue, including deceive their customers.

[Gregg]

You and I know enough about Obamacare to know that. The average American doesn't. Businesses will do whatever they can to cut costs and increase revenue, including deceive their customers.

Yeah, but when I voiced some concerns about this very thing a month ago, I was informed that companies do not have to pay health care now, but they do to attract good employees.

This seems to fly in the face of that information.

[Lurker765]

Yeah, but when I voiced some concerns about this very thing a month ago, I was informed that companies do not have to pay health care now, but they do to attract good employees.

This seems to fly in the face of that information.

No. The question of whether companies like Denny's will be able to attract workers will be the deciding factor. Just like them adding an Obamatax to every order despite the penalties/requirements for health care don't take effect until 2014. They aren't paying any penalties so this Obamatax is just free money for them if the customers are willing to pay it.

And also this particular Denny's was not offering health care to its employees, but they now will have to or pay a penalty in the future. They didn't care about using health care in the past and apparently didn't want (or need) to attract good employees. Now they will have to either pay a penalty or offer some form of health care plan.

If this was a company that DID offer health care before and now changed their mind it would fly in the face of this information.

[In the Corn]

Yeah, but when I voiced some concerns about this very thing a month ago, I was informed that companies do not have to pay health care now, but they do to attract good employees.

This seems to fly in the face of that information.

Gregg, you and Bernie made the same comments about businesses having to offer insurance to be competitive for the best talent. What you're seeing here with Papa John's and Denny's is that the working poor are the ones being cut out. Let's be honest, it doesn't take a MBA or even a college degree to spin pizza pies or greet and seat people at Denny's. However, there are plenty of low-income people that would gladly step into the low paying job.

Working poor gettin' screwed!

[Fresno Bob]

The working poor are the ones that would most benefit from universal healthcare, and the rest of us benefit from a healthier population and more disperesed health care system

[Gregg]

No. The question of whether companies like Denny's will be able to attract workers will be the deciding factor. Just like them adding an Obamatax to every order despite the penalties/requirements for health care don't take effect until 2014. They aren't paying any penalties so this Obamatax is just free money for them if the customers are willing to pay it.

And also this particular Denny's was not offering health care to its employees, but they now will have to or pay a penalty in the future. They didn't care about using health care in the past and apparently didn't want (or need) to attract good employees. Now they will have to either pay a penalty or offer some form of health care plan.

If this was a company that DID offer health care before and now changed their mind it would fly in the face of this information.

I assume the cut in hours is to make all affected part time employees. Is this the loop hole that prevents them from being fined?

[Gregg]

Gregg, you and Bernie made the same comments about businesses having to offer insurance to be competitive for the best talent. What you're seeing here with Papa John's and Denny's is that the working poor are the ones being cut out. Let's be honest, it doesn't take a MBA or even a college degree to spin pizza pies or greet and seat people at Denny's. However, there are plenty of low-income people that would gladly step into the low paying job.

Working poor gettin' screwed!

The article gives the illusion that full time employees will get their hours cut and lose health benefits. When in reality they have no benefits to begin with. So why the cut in hours? The 5% increase in this article is pure greed used to off set the fines that they will incure.

[Lurker765]

The article gives the illusion that full time employees will get their hours cut and lose health benefits. When in reality they have no benefits to begin with. So why the cut in hours? The 5% increase in this article is pure greed used to off set the fines that they will incure.

Cutting hours can reduce the number of full time employees that have to be covered under Obamacare. Instead of three full time employees than can do four 30 hour time employees each week and avoid the health care issue.

I didn't see anywhere in the article that it mentioned current employees having any health benefits at all.

[baldgriff]

Cutting hours can reduce the number of full time employees that have to be covered under Obamacare. Instead of three full time employees than can do four 30 hour time employees each week and avoid the health care issue.

I didn't see anywhere in the article that it mentioned current employees having any health benefits at all.

So unemployment rate would go down, but still no one has insurance......

[Lurker765]

So unemployment rate would go down, but still no one has insurance......

Well...the part time employees would have insurance through Obamacare under the new system. Under the old system they had no health insurance.

This is paid for by the employers paying penalties and insurance companies reducing rates to get youngsters (pizza delivery people, etc) in the system, hospitals and insured people not paying for uninsured people's trips to the ER, etc.

Obamacare forces businesses to compete and include some form of payment into health care (penalties or actual contributions). There isn't quite as much of a race to the bottom to cut costs by removing health care from workers since your competitors are also having to pay these costs.

Before Obamacare, a company that wanted to compete with Dennys and provide health care was at a disadvantage since it was just an additional cost and if the quality of employees doesn't matter that much then they didn't gain anything from providing health coverage.

Society pays for uninsured health care costs though. Either directly through increased premiums to foot the bill for free-riders or through people dying.

[Gregg]

Cutting hours can reduce the number of full time employees that have to be covered under Obamacare. Instead of three full time employees than can do four 30 hour time employees each week and avoid the health care issue.

I didn't see anywhere in the article that it mentioned current employees having any health benefits at all.

When I first read it I was going by today's practice of using part time help to avoid benefits and overtime. It was later on that I realized that Denny's going to 30 hours is to avoid penalties.

[baldgriff]

Well...the part time employees would have insurance through Obamacare under the new system. Under the old system they had no health insurance.

This is paid for by the employers paying penalties and insurance companies reducing rates to get youngsters (pizza delivery people, etc) in the system, hospitals and insured people not paying for uninsured people's trips to the ER, etc.

Obamacare forces businesses to compete and include some form of payment into health care (penalties or actual contributions). There isn't quite as much of a race to the bottom to cut costs by removing health care from workers since your competitors are also having to pay these costs.

Before Obamacare, a company that wanted to compete with Dennys and provide health care was at a disadvantage since it was just an additional cost and if the quality of employees doesn't matter that much then they didn't gain anything from providing health coverage.

Society pays for uninsured health care costs though. Either directly through increased premiums to foot the bill for free-riders or through people dying.

Forgive me if I have forgotten all the finer points of "the plan". If the employer is fined and does not provide insurance options for the employee - then the employee would have to pay out of pocket some type of premium for insurance. Cant that same employee choose not to purchase health care insurance because they are working 30 hours a week at min wage and cant afford to pay the premium out of pocket? If people had to choose between a weeks worth of dinner vs. health care premium for the month - well food is going to take precedence.

Im a bit brain dead right now as work has been busy and somewhat challenging lately.....

[GwynnInTheHall]

This is nothing new. In Vegas there were mass cutbacks of full timers to part timers to avoid paying benefits over the past two yeas and now--they are rarely hiring FT positions. One reason I moved. Denny's and especially Papa johns are notoriously ****ty to their employees so this is not news either. It was said earlier--this is only an attempt to spin Obamacare as a reason they''re screwing their employees to increase profit. But again, what's new.

[Gregg]

This is nothing new. In Vegas there were mass cutbacks of full timers to part timers to avoid paying benefits over the past two yeas and now--they are rarely hiring FT positions. One reason I moved. Denny's and especially Papa johns are notoriously ****ty to their employees so this is not news either. It was said earlier--this is only an attempt to spin Obamacare as a reason they''re screwing their employees to increase profit. But again, what's new.

Under Obama Care is there a fine for not insuring part time employees.