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ObamaCare: Clean Up In Aisle 5

September 19, 2013 — The Prescription Pad   

The next victim of the President’s broken promise, “if you like your plan you can keep it”?  Your local grocery store.  

One by one, America’s grocers, union and non-union alike, are issuing a recall on ObamaCare. The recent announcement by Trader Joe’s that it would drop health coverage for its part-time workers adds to a growing grocery list of dropped coverage and reduced hours for America’s workers resulting from ObamaCare.

Trader Joe’s drops coverage for part-time workers

  • Trader Joe’s sent a memo to all employees stating that as a result of ObamaCare, the company was dropping coverage for all part-time employees.  One worker notes she is losing “one of the best parts about the job” and that the announcement “is throwing a wrench into everything.”

Kroger drops spousal coverage

  • Kroger announced it would drop spousal coverage for its Indiana employees, in what “could become a model for Kroger and other companies nationwide.”
  • The United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 75, the union which represents Kroger employees in Ohio and Indiana concedes, “The Affordable Care Act is an issue for every employer that provides health care.”

Wegmans cuts part-time workers’ health benefits

  • Wegman’s announced that beginning in 2015, it will drop health coverage for part-time workers.  As the Huffington Post reports, “The chain joins a host of other large companies that have retooled in anticipation of the Affordable Health Care Act.”

Whole Foods likely to cut hours for part-time workers

  • Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said, as a result of ObamaCare, his company will “be forced to reconsider its full-time staffing levels, because the proposed rules include more expensive benefit requirements.”

Trig’s in Wisconsin cutting hours

  • ObamaCare forced the company to cut hours for two-thirds of its workforce.  If “Trig’s hadn’t cut part-time work hours, it could have been put out of business within a year,” according to a consultant for the company.

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