For anyone who has ever wanted to know who in Tennessee requested and
received a waiver from the federal Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare), you may look no further.
Twenty-three businesses and insurers received waivers in Tennessee, while unions received 24 waivers.
Tennessee Watchdog contacted many of these Tennessee businesses and unions for comment, but not so much as one responded. A complete listing of approved applications for waivers throughout the United States is listed here.
The new law requires plans to raise their benefit limits.
According to the Daily Caller, “the reason the Obama administration says it has given out waivers is to exempt certain companies or policyholders from annual limit requirements. The applications for the waivers are ‘reviewed on a case by case basis by department officials who look at a series of factors, including whether or not a premium increase is large or if a significant number of enrollees would lose access to their current plan because the coverage would not be offered in the absence of a waiver.’”
No company who received a waiver is permanently exempt. After much controversy over the matter, Obama Administration officials announced last year that they would stop granting new waivers (some of the controversy is documented in this YouTube video, as South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy questioned federal officials about the transparency of the waiver system at a Congressional subcommittee meeting in 2011).
“All told, 1,231 companies applied for and received waivers from the law’s restrictions on annual benefit caps. The law requires plans to gradually raise their benefit limits, and all annual limits will become illegal in 2014. Companies that received waivers can keep their caps intact until 2014,” according to The Hill web site, after federal officials stopped granting new waivers.
Read more: http://tennessee.watchdog.org/2012/06/12/tennessee-unions-benefit-heavily-from-obamacare-waivers/
Twenty-three businesses and insurers received waivers in Tennessee, while unions received 24 waivers.
Tennessee Watchdog contacted many of these Tennessee businesses and unions for comment, but not so much as one responded. A complete listing of approved applications for waivers throughout the United States is listed here.
The new law requires plans to raise their benefit limits.
According to the Daily Caller, “the reason the Obama administration says it has given out waivers is to exempt certain companies or policyholders from annual limit requirements. The applications for the waivers are ‘reviewed on a case by case basis by department officials who look at a series of factors, including whether or not a premium increase is large or if a significant number of enrollees would lose access to their current plan because the coverage would not be offered in the absence of a waiver.’”
No company who received a waiver is permanently exempt. After much controversy over the matter, Obama Administration officials announced last year that they would stop granting new waivers (some of the controversy is documented in this YouTube video, as South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy questioned federal officials about the transparency of the waiver system at a Congressional subcommittee meeting in 2011).
“All told, 1,231 companies applied for and received waivers from the law’s restrictions on annual benefit caps. The law requires plans to gradually raise their benefit limits, and all annual limits will become illegal in 2014. Companies that received waivers can keep their caps intact until 2014,” according to The Hill web site, after federal officials stopped granting new waivers.
Read more: http://tennessee.watchdog.org/2012/06/12/tennessee-unions-benefit-heavily-from-obamacare-waivers/
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