U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) tonight criticized the Obama administration’s decision (page 90) to grant many union health plans (Taft-Hartley) an exemption from the reinsurance fee contained in ObamaCare:
“The administration’s decision to carve out its union cronies from the ObamaCare reinsurance fee is beyond egregious and will leave others with self-insured plans on the hook to foot the bill. The administration has admitted that exempting unions from this fee will force others to pay even more to cover the costs. Rather than grant special protection from ObamaCare to political allies, the administration should protect all Americans by permanently delaying the entire law.”
On November 19, 2013, Thune introduced legislation to prevent the Obama administration from exempting unions from the reinsurance fee. On November 13, 2013, Thune, along with 20 of his colleagues, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget urging the Obama administration against moving forward with their proposed exemption.