UPS -- Another One Bites the Dust

By Elizabeth Nelson

As our Republicans continue to surrender, one-by-one, like the French Army, yet another company, their employees and their families have fallen victim to Obama and his health care’s burdensome law.  It has come to light, that UPS has informed their employees, they can insure their employees, but thanks to OBAMACARE, "your spouse is 'on their own'.” Their reason?

Rising medical costs, "combined with the costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, have made it increasingly difficult to continue providing the same level of health care benefits to our employees at an affordable cost," UPS said in a memo to employees.

The company told white-collar workers two months ago that 15,000 working spouses eligible for coverage at their own employers would be excluded from the UPS plan in 2014. The Fortune 100 firm expects the move, which applies to non-union U.S. workers only, to save about $60 million a year, said company spokesman Andy McGowan. UsaToday

However, they aren't alone; other companies are doing this too, in an effort to stay solvent, in the face of “rising medical costs.”

But experts say more firms are likely to drop spouses altogether, whether they work or not—especially when the new federal health-care exchanges open in 2014, providing an alternative for spouses left out in the cold. “When there’s a place for people to go, employers won’t feel as beholden or compelled to cover the spouse,” says Joan Smyth, an employee benefits consultant with Mercer.

Firms that recently decided to drop spouses from their plans range from private insurance agencies to school systems and universities like Ball State, as well as large companies like pump and valve manufacturer Flowserve. Wisconsin-based furniture company KI carved out spouses this year when couples flocked to its plan for the first time during open enrollment. “Now, each employer is responsible for its own employee,” says Timothy Van Severen, corporate risk manager for KI, which insures about 1,700 employees in its health plan. “We were going to see a higher claim cost if we didn't do that, because of the migration coming back to us.”  Beforeitsnews

That “place that we will go” is OBAMACARE! Wait, we were promised, “If you like your healthcare, you can keep it.” It’s starting to feel like Ground Hogs Day; we've lived through this already, and tragically know how this will end, right? If we want to keep our healthcare, and our jobs, we need to defund Obamacare and replace it with HR2300, Patient Choice, which also accepts pre-existing conditions.