MacDonald’s Corp, has informed federal regulators its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers isn’t compatible with a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. This raises questions whether or not employees will soon lose healthcare coverage. The trade groups that represent restaurants and retailers say low-wage employers might halt their coverage if the feds don’t loosen requirements on these so called mini med plans. These are plans that offer just the basic, or minimum coverage to 1.4 million americans.
Most restaurants don’t offer coverage, but MacDonald’s does, (mini plans), to workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. What this means is that a worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week if they want coverage of $10,000 per year.
So last week a senior official at MacDonald’s informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain’s insurer won’t meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80-85% of its premium revenue on medical care. MacDonalds did say they won’t drop the coverage.
“We’ve had the opportunity to speak with regulatory agencies directly to better understand the implications of the law and to share our point of view,” Steve Russell, a senior vice president with the company, said in the statement. “Moving forward, we will continue to have an open dialogue with legislators as well as regulators.” Fox News
McDonald’s and trade groups say the percentage is unrealistic for mini-med plans because of high administrative costs owing to frequent worker turnover, combined with relatively low spending on claims.
