ObamaCare waivers now up to 222

ObamaCare waivers now up to 222
posted at 2:55 pm on December 7, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

If the US passes a law that then requires the government to issue over two hundred waivers in the first few months to avoid disastrous consequences for enforcement, doesn’t that indicate a problem in the law itself? That question should be foremost on voters’ minds as the number of waivers to ObamaCare issued by the Obama administration soars to 222:

The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

One of the more recognizable business names included on the newly-expanded list of waivers issued by the feds is that of Waffle House, which received a waiver on November 23 for health coverage that covers 3,947 enrollees.

Another familiar name was that of Universal Orlando, which runs a variety of very popular resorts in the Orlando, Florida area. Universal was given a waiver for plans that cover 668 workers.

These waivers deal with limited health benefit plans, sometimes referred to as “mini-med” policies, which companies as large as McDonald’s use for some its employees.

Waffle House. How appropriate! The Obama White House demanded a series of federal mandates that it claimed would protect Americans without damaging business, and now the administration is waffling on its own mandates.

The Boss Emeritus has been on the case of the waivers for weeks, and now calls this Waiver-Mania. Why has this fever struck the administration? Its own mandates would force these companies to drop coverage entirely for part-time and low-wage workers under full enforcement — hurting the very people Obama claimed to be helping with his takeover of the health-care industry. The use of “mini-med” coverage allowed employers to offer limited benefits to low-wage employees that they couldn’t afford on their own, and for which taxpayers didn’t provide subsidies. ObamaCare and its coverage mandates would eliminate that coverage by design and force those employees onto Medicaid, greatly increasing the cost of ObamaCare and reducing their ability to get private coverage instead.

This is basically a finger-in-the-dyke approach to oncoming disaster. Any such waivers means that the government is no longer enforcing the rule of law but the rule of whim, choosing winners and losers in a totally inappropriate manner. Issuing 222 waivers (for now!) demonstrates that the law is unworkable and needs to be repealed.