The White Castle hamburger chain fears that a health insurance reform law adopted earlier this year will put its profits on a downward slide.
The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain - known for serving small square hamburgers called "sliders" – says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014.
Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance.
White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson. White Castle employs more than 10,000 people nationwide, and more than 1,200 in Ohio.
But, but, Obama's handpicked sheep Economic Advisors say (or else they will be thrown under that bus like others) that the healthcare bill will create jobs! (Hmm...didn't they say that if we passed stimulus that we wouldn't go past 8% unemployment? Didn't they say that this summer would see great growth? Hmmm....)
However, as the article notes:
the National Council of Chain Restaurants sees it. Restaurant group vice president Scott Vinson says the entire restaurant industry will have trouble dealing with costs the bill imposes in 2014, including a $2,000-per-worker penalty that companies with more than 50 employees must pay if their workers end up purchasing federally subsidized insurance rather than getting insurance from their employers.
"There is the expense of actually providing the insurance, then the expense of not providing insurance," says Vinson. "It will be expensive either way."
George Ebinger of New Jersey, who owns several International House of Pancakes restaurants, says the penalties for not insuring his 140 workers will cost roughly half as much as insuring them. He figures he will have to raise prices and possibly lay off workers to come up with the $220,000 he anticipates the penalties will cost.
"We are still figuring out how to deal with this," says Ebinger. "Ultimately, either businesses will close or consumers will pay more."
Yep, sounds like hope, change, and economic growth and expansion for all, right? Not so much. Repeal Healthcare and throw out the socialist/statist/Dims!
