Saturday, August 01, 2009

Boeing, Xerox Join 185 Groups Objecting to House Health Plan - Bloomberg.com

My employer says Obamacare would cause obstacles to providing health care for its employees. Bloomberg.com:
Boeing Co., Xerox Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. are among 185 companies and business groups objecting to health-care legislation in the U.S. House that they say would hurt their ability to cover employees. The legislation may require companies to offer different coverage for workers depending on their location and limit changes to retiree benefits, the business coalition said in a letter being sent to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. “These provisions will raise costs for both employers and employees without improving quality or efficiency,” the businesses said. The letter takes companies’ involvement in the health-care debate “up a level” after they previously had stuck with broad statements of support for an overhaul or let trade associations speak for them, said Julius Hobson, a senior policy adviser at Bryan Cave LLP in Washington. “There was a realization that in all likelihood, Congress is going to pass something,” Hobson said in an interview yesterday. “Businesses are trying to make sure it doesn’t harm them.” The letter to the House leaders is to be sent today, said Martin Reiser, chairman of the National Coalition on Benefits, a Washington group that gathered the signatures. Reiser is also a manager of government policy for Norwalk, Connecticut-based Xerox. Among those signing are organizations such as the National Retail Federation, the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and companies including AT&T Inc., Eastman Kodak Co., Deere & Co. , and Dow Chemical Co.
This has a lot of "may require" wording because the 3 House bills and I don't know how many Senate bills are all moving targets.

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