A chorus of opposition to Obamacare has been growing ever since Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) warned that it is headed for a “huge train wreck.” According to a recent article in The Hill, even labor unions are beginning to realize the disastrous consequences that are just around the bend:
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) — a 1.3 million-member labor group that twice endorsed Obama for president — is very worried about how the reform law will affect its members’ healthcare plans.
Last month, the president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers released a statement calling “for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”
UNITE HERE, a prominent hotel workers’ union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are also pushing for changes.
UFCW President Joe Hansen explained why much of their concern is based on how Taft-Hartley health care plans will be treated under Obamacare:
“You can’t have the same quality healthcare that you had before, despite what the president said,” Hansen said. “Now what’s going to happen is everybody is going to have to go to private for-profit insurance companies. We just don’t think that’s right. … We just want to keep what we already have and what we bought at tremendous cost.”
“I was pretty blunt about it,” said Hansen. “I told them it was a very serious issue. That it was wrong. Taft-Hartley plans should be deemed as qualified healthcare providers and I also said it’s going to have political repercussions if we don’t get this fixed.”
“When [the Obama administration] started writing the rules and regulations, we just assumed that Taft-Hartley plans — that workers covered by those plans, especially low-wage workers — would be eligible for the subsidies and stay in their plans and they’re not,” Hansen said.
Unfortunately for labor leaders, it gets worse. What they may not realize (or state publicly) is that out of Obamacare’s 20 tax hikes, at least five are direct violations of President Obama’s middle class tax pledge. Combined with complicated new rules and regulations, these all add up to an ugly bill that is rightfully losing support across the political spectrum.