If Obamacare is so Great, Why the Waivers For Unions & Mega Insurance Companies?

Via Burning Platform and The Daily Crux

Here is a link where you can see the list of organizations that have received a waiver from Obamacare.

http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/files/approved_applications_for_waiver.html

I thought Obamacare was supposed to be great and helpful to Americans and businesses. Why would Obama’s biggest supporters in Unions and in the insurance industry need waivers from such a great plan? The organizations receiving waivers sure makes me scratch my head:

• United Federation of Teachers Fund – 351,000 enrollees
• NY District Council 37 Health & Security Plan – 303,164 enrollees
• CIGNA -265,000 enrollees
• Aetna – 209,423 enrollees
• Teamsters Local 237 Welfare Fund – 51,649 enrollees
• Chicago Local 25 SEIU – 31,000 enrollees

Peruse the complete lists at your leisure. Why is a law that is supposed to be awesome for you and me, not being enforced on unions and the health insurance companies that helped write the 2,700 page monstrosity? I’m sure there’s a good explanation. Obama wouldn’t lie to us about Obamacare. It certainly doesn’t include any taxes and it will certainly be budget neutral.

Labor unions primary recipients of Obamacare waivers

Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president’s health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer.

Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama‘s signature legislation since June 17, 2011.

By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.

The Department of Health and Human Services revised the rules governing applications for health reform waivers June 17, 2011, amid a steady stream of controversial news reports, including The Daily Caller’s story that nearly 20 percent of last May’s waivers went to businesses in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district in California.

The labor unions receiving waivers include those that are monitored under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, and those that are not. The waivers granted since June 17 are valid until 2013, but recipients must make sure their employees understand the “limits of their coverage,” according to HHS documents.

HHS granted waivers on a year-by-year basis under its initial application process, but waivers granted after June 17 are valid for a maximum of two-and-a-half years. (RELATED: Full coverage of the health care law)

By and large, unions backed the health care overhaul, a law from which nearly a half million of their workers are now exempt.