ObamaCare- helps Co's unions pay health care for their early retirees

interesting. Huge Corps., and 6 of 10 of the recipients are Public sector Emp. Unions....

So, how is the helpful ala Obamacare, or bending the cost curve etc.?



Health Law Payments

10:16 am April 3, 2011, by Jamie Dupree

Facing questions from both parties in the Congress, the Obama Administration has now revealed how it has spent over $1.7 billion on part of the Obama health law, known as the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.

This plan is intended to help companies pay the cost of health care for their early retirees, but lawmakers say it is wrongly benefiting companies like AT&T and General Electric, who have billions in profits on their bottom lines.

You might also notice as you go through this lengthy list, that some states which are currently suing the federal government over the Obama health law, are also getting money for their state retirement funds - Georgia, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, South Dakota and Wyoming have money coming directly to their retiree programs (there are also other states getting money for public employee unions in their states.)

One other important note is that the $5 billion part of the Obama health law was supposed to last until 2014, when the health reform law takes full effect - but, at this rate, the early retiree program will run out of money much sooner - so the feds say they will stop taking applications for this money at the end of April.

more at-http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washington-insider/2011/04/03/health-law-payments/


Here is the list of unions, companies, state and local governments and other business entities who received money under the Obama health law for their early retiree reinsurance health programs:

United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust


206,798,086

AT&T, Inc.


140,022,949

Verizon Communications Inc.


91,702,538

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio


70,557,764

Teacher Retirement System of Texas


68,074,118

Georgia Department of Community Health


57,936,127

California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)


57,834,267

State of New York


47,869,044

State of New Jersey Treasury Department, Pension Accounting Services Department


38,622,698

General Electric Company


36,607,818

Employees Retirement System of Texas


30,175,627

Commonwealth of Kentucky


29,666,516

South Carolina Budget & Control Board Employee Insurance Program


27,142,502

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania


24,522,631

State of Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System


22,620,604

State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio


20,334,357

State of Michigan


20,247,338

General Motors, LLC


19,002,669

The Boeing Company


18,759,499

I stopped counting at 40...the links contains the list,its huge.

 

so, seriously, is there anything wrong with this? they are I guess just another co. ...?However does it not effect their bottom line?



Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money.

“It is fine with me if they continue covering the ObamaCare debate,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, in an e-mail to The Daily Caller. “When NBC used to cover energy issues, they identified themselves as a subsidiary of General Electric. CBS and Washington Post just have to disclose that they are subsidiaries of the Obama Administration.”

Read more: Washington Post and CBS | Obamacare slush fund | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment


Is Blackburn just being silly or should they run a disclaimer?