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Obamacare: Walgreens Dropping Current Coverage for 160,000 Workers.....

MMC

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Walgreen Co. (WAG), the biggest U.S. drugstore chain, will move its workers into a private health insurance exchange to buy company-subsidized coverage, the latest sign of how the debate over Obamacare is accelerating a historic shift in corporate health-care coverage. Walgreen’s decision affects about 160,000 current employees and follows similar action this year by Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) As an alternative to administering a traditional health plan, all three will send their employees to an exchange run by Aon Plc.

IBM and GE recently announced similar changes in their retirees plans, which are not to be confused with UPS' decision to drop spousal coverage. CBS News reported the "big deal" announcement this morning, noting that employees may have to swallow more out-of-pocket costs due to Walgreens' cost-saving move:

What makes this particular corporate decision ironic is that Walgreens agreed to team up with HHS to promote the new law, which has now forced major benefits changes within their own company. The drug store chain is boosting a policy that has forced management to expose one of the president's core pledges as untrue,

and echoing Harry Reid's pronouncement that Obamacare is only the first step toward really fixing our still-broken healthcare system through a fully government-run single payer system. Confronted with this $2 trillion law's undeniable failures, its cheerleaders are already making the pivot to their next bad idea.....snip~

Obamacare: Walgreens Dropping Current Coverage for 160,000 Workers - Guy Benson

yes.gif
Obamacare takes another major hit. Walgreens one of the major backers. it just keeps on getting worse. Now the Obamatons are already pivoting as now they cannot deny the rising costs. Which means Obama hoping on the youth to fund his program may be in even more jeopardy than originally thought. Especially with those poor and middle class people. Knowing costs are going to keep going up on them. Sure he wasn't hoping on people who don't get sick that much.....people coming down on him from all sides now. Is that a look of worry in his eyes?
 
Walgreen's is still going to subsidize the employees' insurance but the employees will be buying it from somewhere else.

I am missing the "there" that must be there.
 
Walgreen's is still going to subsidize the employees' insurance but the employees will be buying it from somewhere else.

I am missing the "there" that must be there.



I don't know about you missing the there that must be there.....but I doubt that it can disputed that the costs will have doubled by 2038. Moreover what do you think the Perception is when Obama stated that no one will take away their health care. That People will be able to keep their healthcare. Do you think he and the left can now spin it some sort of another way? Since this wasn't true.


Elmendorf also said that CBO's estimate in May that the government will run a $642 billion deficit this year is proving a little too optimistic. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf said that slightly weaker revenues than expected will likely push that figure higher but that the final deficit tally for the 2013 budget year ending Sept. 30 will still register below $700 billion.

Elmendorf made his remarks as the agency released an updated study of the government's long-term budget ills. It says that federal health care and retirement programs threaten to overwhelm the federal budget and harm the economy in coming decades unless Washington finds the political will to restrain their inexorable growth. The long-term pressures promise to quickly reverse recent improvements in the deficit.

Tuesday's Congressional Budget Office report says that government spending on health care and Social Security would double relative to the size of the economy in 25 years and that spending on other programs like defense, transportation and education would decline to its smallest level by the same measure since the Great Depression.

The share of federal spending devoted to health care would rise from 4.6 percent of gross domestic product today to 8 percent in 2038; spending on Social Security would rise as well, as the number of people receiving benefits rises to more than 100 million in 25 years, compared with 57 million people taking benefits now.....snip~

New study warns of US long-term debt problems
 
Every Single Democrat who voted for this appeal is going to have dozens of stories like this to run against. Good luck, dems. You voted for it, now you get to find out what is in it.
 
Every Single Democrat who voted for this appeal is going to have dozens of stories like this to run against. Good luck, dems. You voted for it, now you get to find out what is in it.

That's Right CPW.....Obamacare will end up accounting for over half of government spending on Obamacare alone. Obama and the Dems want to raise taxes and the CBO is clearly stating if they do that then the economy will hit the Brakes. So the higher taxes will cut more jobs.

The CBO themselves is now tearing up Obamas Special Blend.....yet the left still can't smell the coffee. :roll:
 
Walgreen's is still going to subsidize the employees' insurance but the employees will be buying it from somewhere else.

I am missing the "there" that must be there.

What you are missing is they are being forced out of their current insurance plan due to rising cost that Obama care was supposed to stop. What you are missing is Obama promised you could keep your insurance on his plan. What you are missing is this is exactly what "crazy right wingers" predicted would happen.
 
That's Right CPW.....Obamacare will end up accounting for over half of government spending on Obamacare alone. Obama and the Dems want to raise taxes and the CBO is clearly stating if they do that then the economy will hit the Brakes. So the higher taxes will cut more jobs.

The CBO themselves is now tearing up Obamas Special Blend.....yet the left still can't smell the coffee. :roll:

The left drinks tea.:lol:
 
Walgreen Co. (WAG), the biggest U.S. drugstore chain, will move its workers into a private health insurance exchange to buy company-subsidized coverage, the latest sign of how the debate over Obamacare is accelerating a historic shift in corporate health-care coverage. Walgreen’s decision affects about 160,000 current employees and follows similar action this year by Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) As an alternative to administering a traditional health plan, all three will send their employees to an exchange run by Aon Plc.

IBM and GE recently announced similar changes in their retirees plans, which are not to be confused with UPS' decision to drop spousal coverage. CBS News reported the "big deal" announcement this morning, noting that employees may have to swallow more out-of-pocket costs due to Walgreens' cost-saving move:

What makes this particular corporate decision ironic is that Walgreens agreed to team up with HHS to promote the new law, which has now forced major benefits changes within their own company. The drug store chain is boosting a policy that has forced management to expose one of the president's core pledges as untrue,

and echoing Harry Reid's pronouncement that Obamacare is only the first step toward really fixing our still-broken healthcare system through a fully government-run single payer system. Confronted with this $2 trillion law's undeniable failures, its cheerleaders are already making the pivot to their next bad idea.....snip~

Obamacare: Walgreens Dropping Current Coverage for 160,000 Workers - Guy Benson

yes.gif
Obamacare takes another major hit. Walgreens one of the major backers. it just keeps on getting worse. Now the Obamatons are already pivoting as now they cannot deny the rising costs. Which means Obama hoping on the youth to fund his program may be in even more jeopardy than originally thought. Especially with those poor and middle class people. Knowing costs are going to keep going up on them. Sure he wasn't hoping on people who don't get sick that much.....people coming down on him from all sides now. Is that a look of worry in his eyes?

I'm not sure that this isn't much ado about nothing. I'd need more information.

  • How is this different from what they're doing now?
  • How will this effect employees?
If what Walgreen's is currently doing is offering their employees "our healthcare package," a generic one-size-fits-all, then moving to a Walgreen's Exchange where employees have more options isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Here are six companies with whom we've negotiated who will provide a buffet of insurance products from which you'll pick the one that best suits you. We will put $14,000 annually into the equivalent of a Health Savings Account to help defray the cost of your healthcare."

^^I just made that up. But I doubt it is much different than what they have now, except that all the offered plans will be AHA compliant and Walgreen's will be out of the loop in administering the plans.
 
I'm not sure that this isn't much ado about nothing. I'd need more information.

  • How is this different from what they're doing now?
  • How will this effect employees?
If what Walgreen's is currently doing is offering their employees "our healthcare package," a generic one-size-fits-all, then moving to a Walgreen's Exchange where employees have more options isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Here are six companies with whom we've negotiated who will provide a buffet of insurance products from which you'll pick the one that best suits you. We will put $14,000 annually into the equivalent of a Health Savings Account to help defray the cost of your healthcare."

^^I just made that up. But I doubt it is much different than what they have now, except that all the offered plans will be AHA compliant and Walgreen's will be out of the loop in administering the plans.

Not sure about Walgreen's but many comps like IBM are dumping eligible retirees onto Medicare which means they lose their insurance and in many cases their doctors.
 
What you are missing is they are being forced out of their current insurance plan due to rising cost that Obama care was supposed to stop. What you are missing is Obama promised you could keep your insurance on his plan. What you are missing is this is exactly what "crazy right wingers" predicted would happen.

Are there really people who understood what the president said to mean that employers would no longer be allowed to change health benefit offerings for their employees? Ever?
 
Not sure about Walgreen's but many comps like IBM are dumping eligible retirees onto Medicare which means they lose their insurance and in many cases their doctors.

Well, that's sure a money-saving move for the retirees. Why would Walgreen's ever usurp Medicare with their own coverage? That's even hard to believe. They would only "lose their doctors" if they chose a plan out of the exchange that offered HMO-type coverage. They'd do that because it was cheaper for them.

I looked that up -- and IBM's contribution to retirees' healthcare was capped in 1990; so while this may save retirees money, it isn't a cost-saving move for IBM.
 
Are there really people who understood what the president said to mean that employers would no longer be allowed to change health benefit offerings for their employees? Ever?

Obama care changed the health care world and "never" is happening exactly as Obama care takes effect. His plan is forcing companies to drop insurance plans EXACTLY as predicted by so called right wingers when we were having the original debate.
 
Well, that's sure a money-saving move for the retirees. Why would Walgreen's ever usurp Medicare with their own coverage? That's even hard to believe. They would only "lose their doctors" if they chose a plan out of the exchange that offered HMO-type coverage. They'd do that because it was cheaper for them.

I looked that up -- and IBM's contribution to retirees' healthcare was capped in 1990; so while this may save retirees money, it isn't a cost-saving move for IBM.

If you looked at why IBM and others are doing this you will see that they are projecting insurance cost to triple by 2020. Wasn't Obama care supposed to stop or at least slow the rise in insurance cost? It seems to have done exactly the opposite and companies are doing what they have to in order to survive. Goodbye private insurance, hello Medicare. Goodbye old doctor and start searching for a new doctor.
 
Walgreen Co. (WAG), the biggest U.S. drugstore chain, will move its workers into a private health insurance exchange to buy company-subsidized coverage, the latest sign of how the debate over Obamacare is accelerating a historic shift in corporate health-care coverage. Walgreen’s decision affects about 160,000 current employees and follows similar action this year by Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) As an alternative to administering a traditional health plan, all three will send their employees to an exchange run by Aon Plc.

IBM and GE recently announced similar changes in their retirees plans, which are not to be confused with UPS' decision to drop spousal coverage. CBS News reported the "big deal" announcement this morning, noting that employees may have to swallow more out-of-pocket costs due to Walgreens' cost-saving move:

What makes this particular corporate decision ironic is that Walgreens agreed to team up with HHS to promote the new law, which has now forced major benefits changes within their own company. The drug store chain is boosting a policy that has forced management to expose one of the president's core pledges as untrue,

and echoing Harry Reid's pronouncement that Obamacare is only the first step toward really fixing our still-broken healthcare system through a fully government-run single payer system. Confronted with this $2 trillion law's undeniable failures, its cheerleaders are already making the pivot to their next bad idea.....snip~

Obamacare: Walgreens Dropping Current Coverage for 160,000 Workers - Guy Benson

yes.gif
Obamacare takes another major hit. Walgreens one of the major backers. it just keeps on getting worse. Now the Obamatons are already pivoting as now they cannot deny the rising costs. Which means Obama hoping on the youth to fund his program may be in even more jeopardy than originally thought. Especially with those poor and middle class people. Knowing costs are going to keep going up on them. Sure he wasn't hoping on people who don't get sick that much.....people coming down on him from all sides now. Is that a look of worry in his eyes?

This is going to happen all over the country. Every business that provides insurance for employees is either going to do this or reduce all their employees' hours so they will not qualify for any kind of insurance. This is the biggest boon to business in this country in my lifetime. Most people job shop looking for the bennies, particularly good health coverage. That one is falling by the wayside and profit margins are going up and up and up.
 
Obama care changed the health care world and "never" is happening exactly as Obama care takes effect. His plan is forcing companies to drop insurance plans EXACTLY as predicted by so called right wingers when we were having the original debate.

I don't know if that's a yes. Did rightwingers believe the president was saying that every employer was locked into continuing to offer the plan they offered their employees in 2009, in perpetuity? And that's why seeing employers change benefit offerings proves he "lied"?
 
Goodbye private insurance, hello Medicare. Goodbye old doctor and start searching for a new doctor.

Why do you keep on saying that? It's not true. Medicare doesn't limit what doctors one can see unless you choose a cheap-assed HMO supplement. And, if you search, you'll probably find an HMO that will cover your present doctor anyway.
 
I don't know if that's a yes. Did rightwingers believe the president was saying that every employer was locked into continuing to offer the plan they offered their employees in 2009, in perpetuity? And that's why seeing employers change benefit offerings proves he "lied"?

The fact is what is happening is exactly what anti Obama care people said would happen. Obama care would force companies to dump their current insurance plans.
 
I'm not sure that this isn't much ado about nothing. I'd need more information.

  • How is this different from what they're doing now?
  • How will this effect employees?
If what Walgreen's is currently doing is offering their employees "our healthcare package," a generic one-size-fits-all, then moving to a Walgreen's Exchange where employees have more options isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Here are six companies with whom we've negotiated who will provide a buffet of insurance products from which you'll pick the one that best suits you. We will put $14,000 annually into the equivalent of a Health Savings Account to help defray the cost of your healthcare."

^^I just made that up. But I doubt it is much different than what they have now, except that all the offered plans will be AHA compliant and Walgreen's will be out of the loop in administering the plans.

Heya Maggie
hat.gif
Lets see if this helps.

The problem for employees, though, is that a flat subsidy for spending in private exchanges just transfers the burden of rising costs from the employer to the employee. If employers like Walgreens expected ObamaCare to actually control costs, they wouldn’t be dumping employee coverage. CBS This Morning’s Jill Schlesinger calls this “a big deal,” and points out that this gets Walgreens and other corporate employers off the hook for compliance costs:

“I can’t see how this is going to be good for the employee in the future,” Schlesinger adds, given the CBO projection yesterday of health-care cost escalation over the next twenty years.

By the way, this move comes just two months after Walgreens agreed to partner with HHS on promoting ObamaCare — which was supposed to drive that cost curve downward:....snip~

Video: Walgreens to dump employee coverage for 160,000 « Hot Air
 
If you looked at why IBM and others are doing this you will see that they are projecting insurance cost to triple by 2020. Wasn't Obama care supposed to stop or at least slow the rise in insurance cost? It seems to have done exactly the opposite and companies are doing what they have to in order to survive. Goodbye private insurance, hello Medicare. Goodbye old doctor and start searching for a new doctor.

Large companies like IBM and AT&T underwrite all their claims. Translation: They pay all the claims and what they pay to the 'insurance company' is for administration of the program. Large companies like this don't pay 'premiums.' They pay the actual claims. Obama has just given these large companies the biggest step up they have ever had. My late husband worked for the telephone company. I learned about this practice then. Everyplace I have ever worked pays its own claims with the exception of one and that company was too small, so they just gave employees $300/month to buy their own insurance. When I worked for HCA they required you to go to an HCA hospital, their way of mitigating it.
 
The fact is what is happening is exactly what anti Obama care people said would happen. Obama care would force companies to dump their current insurance plans.

If by "dumping their current insurance plans," you mean buying a different one, sure. That happens all the time. That's why there's an open enrollment period every single year.

I'm suspecting that some of the "anti Obamacare" people you speak of don't have a particularly good grasp of how the world works.
 
I'm not sure that this isn't much ado about nothing. I'd need more information.

  • How is this different from what they're doing now?
  • How will this effect employees?
If what Walgreen's is currently doing is offering their employees "our healthcare package," a generic one-size-fits-all, then moving to a Walgreen's Exchange where employees have more options isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Here are six companies with whom we've negotiated who will provide a buffet of insurance products from which you'll pick the one that best suits you. We will put $14,000 annually into the equivalent of a Health Savings Account to help defray the cost of your healthcare."

^^I just made that up. But I doubt it is much different than what they have now, except that all the offered plans will be AHA compliant and Walgreen's will be out of the loop in administering the plans.

The employers do not want to be the ones who get hit with paying the 40% excise tax would be my guess. They are passing it off to the individuals to deal with. It is the reason that a lot of unions have been fighting to delay that tax for their members. A lot of those great healthcare benefits they have won for their members are now subject to the excise tax under Obamacare, especially public sector unions from what I have read.
 
Heya Maggie
hat.gif
Lets see if this helps.

The problem for employees, though, is that a flat subsidy for spending in private exchanges just transfers the burden of rising costs from the employer to the employee. If employers like Walgreens expected ObamaCare to actually control costs, they wouldn’t be dumping employee coverage. CBS This Morning’s Jill Schlesinger calls this “a big deal,” and points out that this gets Walgreens and other corporate employers off the hook for compliance costs:

“I can’t see how this is going to be good for the employee in the future,” Schlesinger adds, given the CBO projection yesterday of health-care cost escalation over the next twenty years.

By the way, this move comes just two months after Walgreens agreed to partner with HHS on promoting ObamaCare — which was supposed to drive that cost curve downward:....snip~

Video: Walgreens to dump employee coverage for 160,000 « Hot Air

That is exactly what it does. That is the exact intent of all this.
 
If by "dumping their current insurance plans," you mean buying a different one, sure. That happens all the time. That's why there's an open enrollment period every single year.

I'm suspecting that some of the "anti Obamacare" people you speak of don't have a particularly good grasp of how the world works.

Open enrollment does not require that you sign up each year. That is just your chance to make changes to your plan. I worked in health care 25 years, some of that in the business end of it. I know exactly what is going on. Those who support Obamacare do not.
 
Open enrollment does not require that you sign up each year. That is just your chance to make changes to your plan. I worked in health care 25 years, some of that in the business end of it. I know exactly what is going on. Those who support Obamacare do not.

But Obama said there could never be changes to any plan, ever! He's a liar!

Or something.
 
Why do you keep on saying that? It's not true. Medicare doesn't limit what doctors one can see unless you choose a cheap-assed HMO supplement. And, if you search, you'll probably find an HMO that will cover your present doctor anyway.

You are mistaken. Not all doctors take Medicare patients without an additional annual fee tacked on. My elderly parents were told by their docs that in order to remain a patient it will cost them several thousand a year up front. They can't afford that so they are losing their doctors and now have to search for new docs that take Medicare patients, assuming they can even find one.

"Fewer American doctors are treating patients enrolled in the Medicare health program for seniors, reflecting frustration with its payment rates and pushback against mounting rules, according to health experts.


Fewer American doctors are treating patients enrolled in the Medicare health program for seniors, reflecting frustration with its payment rates and pushback against mounting rules, according to health experts. Stefanie Ilgenfritz reports. Photo: Ben Sklar for The Wall Street Journal.
.
The number of doctors who opted out of Medicare last year, while a small proportion of the nation's health professionals, nearly tripled from three years earlier, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency that administers the program. Other doctors are limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat even if they don't formally opt out of the system.

Even fewer doctors say they are accepting new Medicaid patients, and the number who don't participate in private insurance contracts, while smaller, is growing—just as millions of Americans are poised to gain access to such coverage under the new health law next year. All told, health experts say the number of doctors going "off-grid" isn't enough to undermine the Affordable Care Act, but they say some Americans may have difficulty finding doctors who will take their new benefits or face long waits for appointments with those who do.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323971204578626151017241898.html
 
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