Businesses Reducing Worker’s Hours to Compensate for Obamacare

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter says he will pass on the mandated costs of President Obama’s health insurance reform onto his workers. Schnatter said he will likely reduce workers’ hours, as a result of President Obama’s reelection. He estimates that the new law would cost his business $5 to $8 million annually.

Schnatter made headlines over the summer when he told shareholders that the cost of a Papa John’s pizza will increase by between 11 and 14 cents due to Obamacare.

“I got in a bunch of trouble for this,” he said inside a small auditorium at Edison State College’s Collier County campus in Naples. “That’s what you do, is you pass on costs. Unfortunately, I don’t think people know what they’re going to pay for this.”

Schnatter went on to say that “the good news is 100 percent of the population is going to have health insurance, We’re all going to pay for it.”

About a third of Papa John’s employees are covered by the company’s health insurance plan, although Schnatter said he has always wanted 100 percent of them on the plan but the rising costs of health insurance have been a deterrent.

Obamacare mandates that only employees that work more than 30 hours per week be covered under their employers health insurance plan.  Darden restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, has already begun reducing workers hours in anticipation of the legislation.  McDonald’s Corp. Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen noted in a conference call with investors that the hamburger chain was looking at the many factors that will impact health care costs, including its number of full-time employees.  Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of Jimmy John’s sub shacks, told Fox Business News that like a lot of small businesses, his firm is considering cutting hours of workers to 28 to get under the Obamacare cap.

“We have to do that. There’s no other way we can survive it, because we think it will cost us 50 cents a sandwich. That’s just the actual cost,” he told Fox. “If you have 40 or 50 employees at a restaurant, and the penalty is $2,000, and you’re going to pay $80,000 or $100,000 penalty, there goes the profit in your restaurant,” he added.

Applebee’s has responded to the added costs of health insurance reform much harsher saying that they won’t hire new workers because of the law.

Staten Island The Forgotten Borough?

Anger and frustration has continued to grow over the response to superstorm Sandy which brought a record storm surge to U.S. North east coastal areas and left many people with no power, no gasoline and in many cases no homes. There were about 41 deaths in New York City, about half of which were in Staten Island.

“They forgot about us,” said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been “annihilated.” “And Bloomberg said New York is fine. The marathon is on,” she said, referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“I just walked past four huge generators. Those could be put to use for people who need them,” said Marjorie Dial, a tourist from Oregon who was shocked to see the generators in Central Park, where the marathon finishes. “What they’ve discovered on Staten Island should have been the tipping point – the bodies.” . The mayor has since announced that the marathon is being cancelled.

Some have praised President Obama’s handling of storm relief but scenes of angry victims could have a negative affect on the president’s campaign with the election only four days away. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino planned to visit Staten Island on Friday amid angry claims that the borough has largely been ignored.

 

Report Finds That Doctors Are Charging Medicare Patients at Higher Rates

A new study has found that over that the last decade thousands of doctors and other medical professionals have added more than $11 billion to fees for elderly patients on Medicare by using more expensive billing codes instead of cheaper ones.

The report “Cracking the Codes” from the non-profit investigative journalism organization Center on Public Integrity analyzed Medicare claims for a year and found thousands of providers engaging in the practice of “upcoding,” According to experts upcoding is the act of charging for more extensive and costly services than delivered.

The study found that 7,500 doctors charged the two most expensive paying codes for three out of four visits in 2008, up sharply from the number who did so at the beginning of the decade. The report says that medical groups argue that new technology and longer lifespans have made treating seniors more complex and time-consuming. According to the report there is little evidence that Medicare patients as a whole are older or sicker than in the past, or that the amount of time doctors spend treating them on average has risen.

Health care providers also claim that the rise in costs may be due to years of under-charging, and that the higher costs reflect more accurate billing, while Medicare regulators worry that the coding levels may be accelerating in part because of increased use of electronic health records. Electronic records make it easier to create detailed patient files with just a few mouse clicks, according to the report.

“This is an urgent problem,” Dr. Mark McClellan, who directs the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told the CPI. McClellan, a former director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said the agency must send a message that it “won’t stand by and do nothing … that they are paying attention to this.”

U.S. Military Developing Anti-Suicide Spray

The U.S. Army has awarded a grant to Dr. Michael Kubek of the Indiana University School of Medicine to develop a nasal spray designed to suppress thoughts of suicide. 116 U.S. soldiers are suspected of committing suicide in 2012, and the army currently has the highest recorded rate of suicide in its history.

The spray would deliver an extra dose of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), which causes a “euphoric, calming, antidepressant effect.” TRH has been used to treat severe depression and bi-polar disorders. The chemical has a quick-acting effect and may be able to stop people from killing themselves on the spot.

TRH isn’t effective when taken in pill form or by blood injection and is currently only able to be administered with an injection directly into the spine.

 

FDA Approves Cell Transplant Research on Spinal Cord Patients

The FDA has given approval to the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis to start groundbreaking clinical trials studying the effects of human cell transplants on people with spinal cord injuries.

The center’s leading researchers believe that this is a first step toward curing paralysis and may lead to medical advancements that could someday treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

“We feel like this is our Olympic moment. We feel like we have won the gold,” said W. Dalton Dietrich, the center’s scientific director.

Schwann cells, found in the peripheral nervous system and essential for sending electrical signals, will be taken from recently injured patients, grown in culture for several weeks, then surgically transplanted into the participants’ spinal cords. The center’s team thinks the cells may reinsulate the damaged spinal nerves.

Researchers said the stage one trial must focus on demonstrating safety and will not reverse paralysis. Preliminary studies on several animal species were required for FDA approval on human subjects, a process that took years and a 1,500-page application.

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis center, based at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, will begin recruiting eight patients as soon as the trial is approved by the university’s Institutional Review Boards.

Subjects must have suffered thoracic spinal cord injuries within five days of agreeing to participate, be between 18 and 50 years old, and have a specific level of paralysis.

Schwann cell transplants are not the same as stem cell therapies. Schwann cells are taken from the patients’ own bodies reducing the risk of rejection.

 

And The Survey Says “Nearly Two-Thirds Of Employers Expect Health Benefit Costs To Rise Under Obamacare”

According to the consulting firm Mercer of 1,203 employers surveyed, sixty-one percent say they will have to pay more for health benefits when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act take effect in 2014 and one in five expect employee health benefit costs to rise by at least 5 percent.

Health insurance reform will most likely cost the most for companies that pay their employees less and have a large part-time workforce because the Affordable Care Act requires large employers to provide health insurance to all employees working at least 30 hours per week or else face penalties. About one in four employers, and one in two employers in retail and hospitality, said in the Mercer survey that they will have to take action to avoid penalties.

Only 6 percent of employers, including 9 percent of retail and hospitality companies, said they will likely drop their health benefit plans because of the Affordable Care Act.

The study comes after Papa John’s Pizza founder and CEO John Schnatter said earlier this month that he plans to raise the price of each pizza by $0.11 to $0.14 to offset new costs under Obamacare. The National Restaurant Association has previously stated that health insurance reform might hurt restaurants’ slim profit margins, since it requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide affordable health insurance.

The Mercer study did not indicate whether they, like Schnatter, plan to pass on the higher cost of employee health care to consumers.

Obamacare Ensures Parent’s Insurance Covers Children up to 26, But Not Their Pregnancies

One of the more popular aspects of the Affordable Care Act allows parents to cover their children under their health insurance plans until they reach age 26, but one thing that that aspect of the bill fails to do is to ensure that their parents’ plan will cover their daughter’s pregnancies.

Group health plans with 15 or more workers are required to provide maternity benefits for employees and their spouses under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, but other dependents of employees aren’t covered by the law, so companies don’t have to provide maternity coverage for them.

There is no data on how many companies fail to provide dependent maternity benefits but Dania Palanker, a senior health policy adviser at the National Women’s Law Center says it’s common and that the number may grow with the expansion of coverage to children up to age 26.

According to Dan Priga, roughly 70 percent of companies that pay their employees’ health-care costs choose not to provide dependent maternity benefits. Priga, is the head of the performance audit group for Mercer, a human resources consulting company.

In some states, pregnant woman may qualify for Medicaid, the federal-state health-care program, but eligibility is based on household income and mainly reserved for low income individuals.

According to the March of Dimes, the average cost for uncomplicated maternity care was $10,652 in 2007. That includes prenatal care, a routine delivery and three months postpartum care.

Under the health insurance overhaul, preventive health benefits that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federal agency, must be covered by new plans and by plans that have changed enough to lose their status of being grandfathered under the law. The recommended services include a range of screenings for pregnant women.

Starting in 2014, maternity and newborn care is one of 10 essential health benefits that must be offered by all health plans in the individual, small-group market and  state-based health insurance exchanges.

Large-group plans, however, are exempt from the requirement to provide the essential health benefits, now or in 2014.

Papa John’s Pizza Raising Prices Because Of Obamacare

After President Obama’s health care law takes full effect, Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter says that the new law will result in a $0.11 to $0.14 price increase per pizza, or $0.15 to $0.20 cents per order.

The company, which is the third-largest pizza takeout and delivery chain in the United States, will have to offer health care coverage to more of its16,500 total employees or pay a penalty to the government under Obamacare.

One Papa John’s franchise owner in Texas, Judy Nichols, says the law could interfere with her ability to open more restaurants.

“I have two options, I can stop offering coverage and pay the $2,000 fine, or I could keep my number of staff under 50 so the mandate doesn’t apply,” she told Legal Newsline. Nichols added that the law may cost her between $20,000 to $30,000 extra in taxes. “Obamacare is making me think about cutting jobs instead,” she said.

With strong sales and more than 1,500 new retail locations planned in the near future, Schnatter doesn’t seem all that bothered, probably because he intends to pass those health care costs on to customers.

“We’re not supportive of Obamacare, like most businesses in our industry,” Schnatter was quoted as saying in Politico. “But our business model and unit economics are about as ideal as you can get for a food company to absorb Obamacare.”

McDonald’s also expects Obamacare to cost each of its 14,000 franchises between $10,000 and $30,000 annually, according to Businessweek. Like Schnatter, the company believes it is well placed to handle the extra costs.

Representatives from other restaurant chains may be less hopeful, however, including Burger King, Quiznos and Dunkin’ Donuts, all which have expressed concern the law may hurt business, according to the Wall Street Journal.

NYC’s Nanny Mayor Bloomberg Sets His Sights on Baby Formula

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken the government nanny state to new levels, banning smoking in public parks and trying to ban the sale of sugary drinks greater than 16 ounces.

Now the mayor has set his sights on another target: baby formula.

He wants city hospitals to lock up formula in an attempt to force new mothers to breast feed. He said it’s what’s best for newborn babies and as everyone knows the nanny state always knows what best for it’s citizens. “Latch On NYC” is the name of the citywide initiative to support mothers who choose to breastfeed and limit practices that interfere with that choice.

“Most of the public health officials around the country think that this is a great idea. I gather that the immunities that a mother has built up get passed along to the child so the child is healthier,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg’s pro-breast milk program is the most restrictive in the nation. Beyond just requiring hospitals to lock up their baby formula, they will no longer be allowed to give out samples of formula and every time a new born is given a bottle the hospital will have to document a medical reason.

“I kind of find it hard to believe that he can do that,” Upper West Side resident Elizabeth Passarella said. “I don’t think it should be something legislated by the government. Obviously, mothers should have that choice.”

“No, I don’t think that the nurses should have to document a medical reason to give a baby a bottle.”

“It’s up to the mother to choose what’s right for her and her child. I don’t think the government should be doing anything to prevent the mom from being a mother and making her own decisions,” added Lisa Tacy, also of the Upper West Side.

“I think breast feeding is a good idea and I think mothers should be educated and helped in the process, but I don’t think they should be denied the option to use formula,” added Christine Zinbelmann of Washington Heights.

Someone needs to explain to these women that as a man, mayor and bureaucrat that Mister nanny state knows what’s better for their children than they do.

Bloomberg defended his actions and said he is looking for even more things to do to make people healthier. From smoking to soda to baby formula, one reporter wanted to know what’s next.

“Anything that we can think of that will improve your health,” the mayor said. “Life expectancy in New York City is three years greater on average in the U.S. Why don’t you just focus on the big number?”

Officials said mothers who “demand” a bottle will get it, but they’ll first get a lecture on how they are somehow harming their baby and why breast feeding is better.

“We’re not making anybody do it. We’re suggesting, and the same thing with full sugar drinks,” the mayor said. “I was behind a truck this morning, and they said ‘Don’t limit our drinks.’ Nobody’s limiting. It’s just the size of the cup.”

So far, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have agreed to participate in the program. It goes into effect on Sept. 3, but ads are already on subways.

Dept. of Homeland Security to Use Molecular Scanners That Will Instantly Know Everything About You

Within the next year or so, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans on deploying a laser based molecular scanner that can penetrate clothing, many other organic materials and will instantly know everything about those targeted from as far away as 164 feet. From traces of drugs or gun powder on clothing to even what an individual had for breakfast to the adrenaline levels in their body.

All without the individuals who are being targeted even knowing it.

In November 2011, the inventors of the technology were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel to work with the US Department of Homeland Security. In-Q-Tel is a company founded “in February 1999 by a group of private citizens at the request of the CIA, with the support of the U.S. Congress.” According to In-Q-Tel, they are the bridge between the Agency and new technology companies.

The plan is for these new scanners to be utilized in airports and at border crossings all across the United States.

The machine is ten million times faster and one million times more sensitive than any system currently available system and can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people.

In-Q-Tel states that “an important benefit of Genia Photonics’ implementation as compared to existing solutions is that the entire synchronized laser system is comprised in a single, robust and alignment-free unit that may be easily transported for use in many environments… This compact and robust laser has the ability to rapidly sweep wavelengths in any pattern and sequence.”

So not only can they scan everyone, but they would be able to do it everywhere at anytime: the subway, a sports events or even at a traffic light.

According to the undersecretary for science and technology of the Department of Homeland Security, this scanning technology will be ready within one to two years, which means we will probably start seeing them in airports as soon as 2013.

These portable, incredibly precise molecular-level scanning devices will soon be cascading lasers across our bodies as we move throughout airports instantly reporting and storing a detailed breakdown of our persons, in search of certain “molecular tags”.

Going well beyond eavesdropping, it looks like the U.S. government plans on recording molecular data on travelers without their consent, or even knowledge.