As of Wednesday, HHS granted 500 new health care waivers to US companies, The Hill reports. According to an HHS release entitled "Helping Americans Keep the Coverage They Have and Promoting Transparency," the total number of waivers for 2011 now stands at 733, exempting 2.1 million people from ObamaCare. Kathleen Sebelius maintains the waivers are necessary to keep the insurance market stable until the state-run exchanges begin in 2014.
Qualifying companies are those that provide more limited health care benefits to employees. These "mini-med" plans do not reach the $750,000 minimum annual limit required by ObamaCare. Yet for many companies changing the nature of their health insurance by increasing the annual limit would be cost prohibitive for their employees and jeopardize their coverage. To avoid this, a waiver from this portion of ObamaCare is granted.
Interestingly, HHS's explanation of the need for these waivers refutes two key promises made by ObamaCare, namely that the reform law will by itself lower costs and also allow Americans the option to maintain their current insurance. Yet the department's rationale for the waivers suggests otherwise: "Waivers only last for one year and are only available if the plan certifies that a waiver is necessary to prevent either a large increase in premiums or a significant decrease in access to coverage." In other words, the 733 firms receiving waivers have proven to HHS that their employees will experience the opposite of what the ObamaCare promises - i.e. either higher costs or an inability to keep their current access to health care insurance - should they be forced to adhere to the legislation's guidelines.
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