Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Workers

[cpwill]

Must be tough for some of my friends on the left to pick sides on this one. Who's right, folks? The unions? Or the Administration?

The leaders of three major U.S. unions, including the highly influential Teamsters, have sent a scathing letter to Democratic leaders in Congress, warning that unless changes are made, President Obama’s health care reform plan will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

If that’s not bad enough, the Affordable Care Act, if not modified, will “destroy the very health and wellbeing of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans,” the letter says....

Interesting excerpt from the letter:

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Since the ACA was enacted, we have been bringing our deep concerns to the Administration, seeking reasonable regulatory interpretations to the statute that would help prevent the destruction of non-profit health plans. As you both know first-hand, our persuasive arguments have been disregarded and met with a stone wall by the White House and the pertinent agencies. This is especially stinging because other stakeholders have repeatedly received successful interpretations for their respective grievances. Most disconcerting of course is last week’s huge accommodation for the employer community—extending the statutorily mandated “December 31, 2013” deadline for the employer mandate and penalties.

Time is running out: Congress wrote this law; we voted for you. We have a problem; you need to fix it. The unintended consequences of the ACA are severe. Perverse incentives are already creating nightmare scenarios....​

All the other people who got you elected are getting their kickbacks! Not Fair!!!

Hope ya'll enjoy the fruits of your electoral decisions.

They really did expect Obamacare to screw everyone else, but be given special exemptions themselves... unbelievable. I wonder how many other constituencies received similar behind-the-closed-door assurances in return for their support?

 

[Fenton]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Lol....Obama' signature policy "suck-cess" killed the 40 hour work week. It's a bit ironic.

I wonder if the " modification" they're refering to is to exempt the Unions ?

 

[davidtaylorjr]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Lol....Obama' signature policy "suck-cess" killed the 40 hour work week. It's a bit ironic.

I wonder if the " modification" they're refering to is to exempt the Unions ?

Yep, how is that going to work out for the middle class when all of their hours get cut?

 

[Fenton]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Yep, how is that going to work out for
the middle class when all of their hours get cut?

Not well.

What a disaster. I mean its not like the Conservatives didn't try to warn thrse folks, that this law and the administration were going to be just terrible.

But now, when even the Unions have seen the light on this monstrosity Obama's options are limitied.

He cant kill the law, or side with the GOP who are trying to defund it because its his signature legislation and very substantial portions of his base are claiming its going to kill the 40 hour work week.

You know there are consequences to appealing to least common denominator.

 

[joG]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Must be tough for some of my friends on the left to pick sides on this one. Who's right, folks? The unions? Or the Administration?

Honestly. How would you want to know? The law is so long, complex and in a style only a lawyer would understand that only a professional or a nut would have the time to read it.

 

[MMC]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Don't worry Obama is out on a Bus Tour.....to help stimulate and bolster the Middle class. Said he would be listenin'.

No really, he wasnt stutterin. He was singing.....Al Green. :2razz:

 

[The Man]

Why can't the unions act like adults and suck up the consequences of this law that they wholeheartedly supported? Surely they couldn't all be so naive that they thought there would be zero negative consequences for themselves?

If it makes them feel any better, Obamacare is so great that the people who wrote it and passed it have exempted themselves from it, so that the rest of us can have it all to ourselves! :thumbs:

 

[justabubba]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

believing that these union leaders are speaking on behalf of the union workers is like thinking the congressional representatives are working on behalf of the people

 

[The Man]

believing that these union leaders are speaking on behalf of the union workers is like thinking the congressional representatives are working on behalf of the people

View attachment 67152523

So the majority of union workers like Obamacare and are looking forward to giving up their current health plans in exchange for something not nearly as good?

 

[Moot]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Where's the link to the OP?

Nevermind, I see it underlined.

First, the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation, and many of them are doing so openly. The impact is two-fold: fewer hours means less pay while also losing our current health benefits.


Second, millions of Americans are covered by non-profit health insurance plans like the ones in which most of our members participate. These non-profit plans are governed jointly by unions and companies under the Taft-Hartley Act. Our health plans have been built over decades by working men and women. Under the ACA as interpreted by the Administration, our employees will treated differently and not be eligible for subsidies afforded other citizens. As such, many employees will be relegated to second-class status and shut out of the help the law offers to for-profit insurance plans.

And finally, even though non-profit plans like ours won’t receive the same subsidies as for-profit plans, they’ll be taxed to pay for those subsidies. Taken together, these restrictions will make non-profit plans like ours unsustainable, and will undermine the health-care market of viable alternatives to the big health insurance companies.....

Union Letter: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Workers - Corporate Intelligence - WSJ

Yup, they better get that resolved, el pronto. My union has non-profit health insurance....it even has it's own hospital.

 

[cpwill]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

believing that these union leaders are speaking on behalf of the union workers is like thinking the congressional representatives are working on behalf of the people

For once, Bubba, we are in agreement on a union issue - union leadership primarily cares about the union, not the workers.

 

[cpwill]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Where's the link to the OP?

Nevermind, I see it underlined.

Yup, they better get that resolved, el pronto. My union has non-profit health insurance....it even has it's own hospital.

It's similar to the position of the Doctor Owned Hospitals. If you weren't one of the Big Buyers into Obamacare, you got to use the law to try to shut out your competition.

 

[Joe Steel]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Don't blame Obama. Capitalists and their Republican stooges are destroying the 40 hour week.

 

[Andalublue]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Must be tough for some of my friends on the left to pick sides on this one. Who's right, folks? The unions? Or the Administration?




Interesting excerpt from the letter:

...[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]Since the ACA was enacted, we have been bringing our deep concerns to the Administration, seeking reasonable regulatory interpretations to the statute that would help prevent the destruction of non-profit health plans. As you both know first-hand, our persuasive arguments have been disregarded and met with a stone wall by the White House and the pertinent agencies. This is especially stinging because other stakeholders have repeatedly received successful interpretations for their respective grievances. Most disconcerting of course is last week’s huge accommodation for the employer community—extending the statutorily mandated “December 31, 2013” deadline for the employer mandate and penalties.

Time is running out: Congress wrote this law; we voted for you. We have a problem; you need to fix it. The unintended consequences of the ACA are severe. Perverse incentives are already creating nightmare scenarios....​

All the other people who got you elected are getting their kickbacks! Not Fair!!!

Hope ya'll enjoy the fruits of your electoral decisions.

They really did expect Obamacare to screw everyone else, but be given special exemptions themselves... unbelievable. I wonder how many other constituencies received similar behind-the-closed-door assurances in return for their support?

Oh, so we like unions now, do we?

 

[cpwill]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Oh, so we like unions now, do we?

Strawman much? Or did you miss this piece:

All the other people who got you elected are getting their kickbacks! Not Fair!!!

Hope ya'll enjoy the fruits of your electoral decisions.

They really did expect Obamacare to screw everyone else, but be given special exemptions themselves... unbelievable. I wonder how many other constituencies received similar behind-the-closed-door assurances in return for their support?

 

[MMC]

Re: Teamsters Union: Obamacare Will ‘Destroy The Very Health and Wellbeing’ of Worker

Strawman much? Or did you miss this piece:

Heya CPW :2wave: Don't forget Pelosi and the progressives out West Coast and their little fix. Plus then there is Congress too.

Prognosis uncertain for Obama plan to fix health law glitch that impacts coverage for Congress.....

It started out a political "gotcha" — an amendment to President Barack Obama's health care law requiring members of Congress and staffers to get the same coverage offered to uninsured Americans. Wednesday, the administration tossed it back in the lap of Congress.

Proposed rules — issued when the halls of Congress are empty for summer recess — say lawmakers' offices should individually decide whether staffers are subject to a health law provision that would require them to switch their insurance from the federal plan to new coverage coming next year under Obama's overhaul.

The potential impact of the provision, authored by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, has been a huge source of anxiety for congressional staffers accustomed to getting their health insurance just like other feds, from the largest employer health care plan in the world.

The proposal does clarify that the government will continue to pay its standard share of premiums, resolving one of the biggest unknowns about the impact of Grassley's amendment. Many had been warning of a Capitol Hill "brain drain" if staffers were suddenly forced to foot the entire cost of their health insurance premiums.

During the drawn-out debate over "Obamacare," Democrats kept insisting that their goal was merely to provide uninsured Americans with the same kinds of coverage and choices that members of Congress have. Grassley, in effect, dared his Democratic counterparts to swallow their rhetoric. A "no" vote on his provision would have undercut the argument that lawmakers supporting the law only wanted regular Americans to enjoy what they themselves had.

Under the amendment, lawmakers themselves and staffers in their personal, or "official," offices would have to exit the federal employee plan and get coverage through new health insurance marketplaces coming under the law. Also known as "exchanges," the marketplaces will offer subsidized private insurance to people who don't have access to a plan on the job.

But the amendment left many key details unclear — including whether the government would keep paying its share of premiums, which works out to around 75 percent.

The Office of Personnel Management, which runs the federal employee health plan, said lawmakers themselves are best equipped to decide which staffers are part of their "official" office. The term was not defined in Grassley's amendment, and the OPM said it turns out that congressional staffers in personal offices often also do part of their work for committees or as leadership aides. Those two categories — committee and leadership staffers — are exempt from Grassley's provision.....snip~

White House floats health care fix for Congress