Obamacare and related costs apparently has convinced the United Parcel Service to end health insurance coverage for about 15,000 employee spouses.
The spouses who are losing their UPS healthcare in 2014 are married to non-unionized workers.
Union workers and their dependents are left unaffected by this change in benefits coverage.
UPS claims that those who are being removed from its plan can obtain insurance from their own employers.
In a memo to UPS employees, the company stated the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, has necessitated this reduction in spousal benefits. “The increase in [chronic medical conditions] and the rising cost of health care in general, 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.” The global package-delivery company anticipates an 11.25 percent increase in insurance coverage costs this year.
In this instance, Brown “can’t do” the insurance benefits for this segment of its workforce as it were.
The UPS memo explains that “Since the Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide affordable coverage, we believe your spouse should be covered by their own employer — just as UPS has a responsibility to offer coverage to you, our employee. Limiting plan eligibility is one way to manage ongoing heath care costs…”
A UPS spokesman claimed that this change in the benefits package will save about $60 million per year.
Last month, the Obama administration announced it was postponing the employer mandate for one year, although the individual mandate is at this time still in effect. That notwithstanding, many employers around the country have put their hiring plans on the back burner, or have opted to downgrade workers into part-time status, to avoid the Obamacare mandate entirely. Insurers have repeatedly warned of steep insurance premium increases flowing from Obamacare implementation. The cap on out-of-pocket deductibles has also been put on hold until 2015, and various other deadlines have slipped. Congress itself has received a special exemption from Obamacare coverage.
A Chicago Tribune editorial recently asserted in part that “Every time the White House undercuts one provision of Obamacare, there is a massive ripple effect on other provisions. It’s generally a zero-sum game: When someone gains, someone else loses… Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, may agree with the numerous delays, changes and special favors. But the president invites chaos when he picks which parts of Obamacare to enforce, and which, in retrospect, he has decided are unworkable or unwise… Bottom line: Let’s delay and rewrite this ill-conceived law. Congress need not start from scratch. Lawmakers can build on what all of us have learned from three years of painful trial and error. Three years of attempting, but failing, to make this clumsy monstrosity work for the American people.”
Has your employer implemented any changes to your benefits as a result of Obamacare?