See these headlines …
They all say the some part-time workers have lost their ability to buy coverage through the Whole Foods plan. Don’t those headlines and all the related rhetoric, Tweets, etc. imply the workers have lost something of value?
I researched this and it appears that Whole Foods does not contribute toward the cost of this coverage, but simply makes it available. That means that some of these workers take jobs to gain access to health benefits because they use them and to the extent that is taking place they drive up the costs for the company and all workers.
It is also highly likely that these workers can buy better, even less costly coverage on an Obamacare exchange, possibly receiving a premium subsidy.
My former employer used to allow surviving spouses of workers and retirees to buy the employer coverage at full cost, but that was stopped years ago. The fact is cheaper, even better coverage was available especially to those also eligible for Medicare.
I don’t understand how this works. If Whole Foods makes available a benefit to which it does not contribute toward the cost, how does that drive up the cost to the company? Just the administrative costs?
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