UPS has become yet another poster-child for the ill-intended effects of Obamacare. On Wednesday, it was announced that UPS will no longer be offering their employees’ spouses insurance coverage. Starting in 2014, 15,000 spouses will find themselves without health care, thanks in large part to the rising medical costs created by the Affordable Care Act.
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
“The decision comes as many analysts are downplaying the Affordable Care Act's effect on companies such as UPS, noting that the move reflects a long-term trend of shrinking corporate medical benefits, Kaiser Health News reports. But UPS repeatedly cites Obamacare to explain the decision, adding fuel to the debate over whether it erodes traditional employer coverage...
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.”
This decision only affects the spouses of non-unionized workers; dropping spousal coverage is projected to save the company $60 million a year.
The Obama Administration has not commented on UPS’s decision to retract healthcare for its workers’ spouses, but spokeswoman for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Joanne Peters, cited Massachusetts health care reform, through which employer coverage actually increased. She also had this to say in ‘reply’:
"The health care law will make health insurance more affordable, strengthen small businesses and make it easier for employers to provide coverage to their workers."
It’s hard to know what world the administration is living in, but apparently it’s a world without UPS.