http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/may/23/crossroads-gps/unions-dont-have-comply-obamacare-says-crossroads-/
"Unions don’t have to comply with Obamacare."
The health care law
phases out annual benefit limits so that people wouldn’t be caught without coverage, according to the HHS. The phase-out started this year, with new rules saying that all insurance plans must offer at least $750,000 in payouts per year. The number goes up every year so that by 2014 no caps at all will be allowed.
Last year, though, companies started complaining, saying that if they had to meet the new requirements, they would either have to increase premiums paid by their employees or end coverage altogether. The Obama administration didn’t want that to happen, so they started granting waivers to the new rule. The waivers would be granted to health plans annually until 2014, according to the HHS, when people will be able to buy standard health insurance policies using new state-based "exchanges." That same year, low-wage workers will be eligible for tax credits to help them buy insurance.
"It is essential that we make sure that Americans who have insurance today – even if that insurance is highly limited – can keep that coverage until reforms take effect that will increase their ability to choose among comprehensive, affordable insurance options in 2014," said Steven Larsen, who oversees the waiver process,
in testimony before Congress in March.
So far, employers like McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Cracker Barrel and O’Reilly Auto Parts have successfully applied for waivers for their health plans. Other approved applicants include Sunview Vineyards of California, Securitas Security Services USA, Mesa Air Group and Dish Network. (See all the
approved applications here.) There are also several union health plans, which are the basis for the claims in the Crossroads ad.
We contacted the HHS and asked for the number of waivers they’ve granted so far. A spokeswoman told us that they have approved 1,372 applications and denied 92. Of the approved applications, 27 represent unions and another 315 represent plans jointly managed by unions and employers. Even if you took the broadest definition possible, counting all the joint plans as union plans, only 25 percent of the waivers have gone to unions. The rest have gone to plans offered by employers, insurance companies and other non-union groups.
To be clear, though, the waivers do not exempt these groups from the health care law. They only allow them to continue offering their current health plans with annual limits until 2014.