Surpise! Major employers, like AT&T, considering dropping healthcare coverage

Of course these large companies will drop coverage. Obama was planning on this all along. Corporations are amoral plain and simple. They do not exist to make their employees happy and comfortable. They exist to make a profit for investors. PROFIT. Period.

I will assure you that the money saved by cutting benefits will be put to the bottom line and not in your pockets as part of your total salary package. Score for the corps. and Obama.

There will no longer be any choices for healthcare coverage and I will lose my excellent coverage.

reply to post by Aggie Man


They will either drop coverage or move to a two tiered benefits/compensation model. You are right that they will not want to lose engineers and folks in professions where there is a lot of competetion for high quality resources. One of the ways firms will compete for these folks is through benefits packages because they are longer-term than compensation and have the added benefit of creating the illusion that the company "cares" about them. In that model, it will be the same model as giving senior executives deferred compensation options or restricted stock.

The folks who have more generic skills, call center workers, network support techs, general administration, basically hourly workers will have their benefits dropped. They don't need to compete for these folks because there are tons out there and they are easy to train.

They will also ship more of these jobs off-shore and not worry about any of it. ObamaCare is going to be fantastic for international outsourcing firms like TATA and Infosys. Those jobs are in the sweet spot for those firms and the 50 cents on the dollar will now become 40 cents.

The law of unintended consequences is a bitch

I am of firm belief this isn't "unintended." It was intended. IF these companies drop healthcare, then the unions have a platform and a reason to approach these employees and attempt to unionize. I wonder why Stern (SEIU) was spending so much time at the WH helping write the HCR bill? It also allows the admin to further demonize companies and press for further regulation and control under the guise of trying to help the working man against the evil corporations. But of course I shouldn't be slandering and "conspiracy theorizing" as it maybe be construed as seditious and I might be hauled off and tried.

Originally posted by Aggie Man
Considrering is the key word here. They won't drop health care coverage. That would outrage their employees, crated a strike/mass exodus from the company. I imagine that we won't hear too much more about this story, as the employees hear of this, there will be an uproar throughout the company....enough to scare the executives...and the stockholders.

I believe it will be more of a weaning off process, such as raising the premiums and\or implementing the higher deductible plans. I work for the "T" company (you know, Deutsch Telecom) and they used to have a very affordable "domestic partner" coverage as well, all this on a 23 hour work week. Last year they changed that to a spouse only coverage, same sex and non married partners were eliminated. We had to prove this by faxing a copy of our marriage license. Imagine how many couples were outraged, not sure how they even got away with the same sex married couples being left out in the cold. Now recently they are raising my premium for my wife. I am guessing very soon they will eliminate the coverage altogether for employees such as myself, working less than 40 hrs per week. So it goes, we just have to take better care of our health and each other and pray for the best. At one time I resorted to local clinics, and i have to say, besides the waiting, they are cost effective and great for getting blood work tests done, teeth and simple procedures, but more is definitely necessary in case of something more serious.

[edit on 7-5-2010 by jymmyjaymes]

Originally posted by Hypntick
Just saw this on CNN as well.

CNN Article

This is something that they never showed in the healthcare debates. This is exactly what every single company is going to consider. Is it more cost effective to just drop coverage and pay the fine? This absolutely sickens me to no end. At the very least they need to increase fines for companies that do not offer the coverage and make them astronomical so it's not viable for them to do without.

Last time anyone checked those big companies didn't owe anyone anything at all. You think just because this company employs people that they automatically owe some lifetime dues to that person? rediculous!

To say they should be massively fined just because they have money is the same as saying all banks should write you a check any darn time you feel like you need money just because you are a customer of theirs.

In other words, no one's money is really their own?
You sure have some strange ideas, and you would fit right in with Obama's team, I'm sure he would love you.

Private employers in the United States do NOT owe you or me one red cent.
I knew this exact thing would come to pass a long time ago during the so called HCR debates, because it was never really about passing viable health care reform, it was all about controlling the wealth of everyone amongst other things....

Originally posted by Aggie Man
[u I imagine that we won't hear too much more about this story, as the employees hear of this, there will be an uproar throughout the company....enough to scare the executives...and the stockholders.

Typical Aggie.

Go with the flow. Dreaming in silently waiting for silently the the day to pass.
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.

It is precisely his attitude that leads us to destruction.

reply to post by DJM8507

Perhaps this is the first step in transitioning our health care system towards a public one? If tens of millions of people lose their insurance and can not afford to see doctors then there would seem to be no choice.

Maybe you weren't paying attention.,

Obamacare is intended to force employers and private insurers out of the market.

When they abandon the market, Barack will "rescue" us from the free market.

you asked for it

look what you've done to my country
jw