Topic: Restaurant Chain Charges Customers Obamacare Surcharge

[oldcoastie6468]

Restaurant Chain Charges Customers Obamacare Surcharge
Katrina Trinko
February 27, 2014 at 11:04 am


 
A Florida group that that manages several restaurants is already banking money for when the Obamacare employer mandate takes effect in 2015, and is charging customers a 1 percent surcharge on food and drinks.

Currently only management employees of the eight Gator’s Dockside restaurants receive health insurance, but starting in December, in order to comply with the employer mandate, about 250 full-time employees will also receive health insurance, according to CNN Money.

Sandra Clark, director of operations for the Gator Group that manages the restaurants, “is not sure how much the company is spending on compliance, but estimates that it will cost $500,000 a year to extend insurance to its full-time hourly restaurant workers,” CNN Money reported. “The surcharge may bring in about $160,000 a year, she hopes.”

Gator’s Dockside isn’t the first restaurant to start charging an Obamacare fee. A Los Angeles restaurant has also implemented a surcharge.

http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/27/restaurant-chain-charges-customers-obamacare-surcharge/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

[richb]

Hopefully more places will have the balls to put the extra costs of Obamacare on its own line, instead of burying the costs in the price.    If I ever have a retail business (very unlikely in this business climate) I would put the portion that the government gets from the price.   Just to inform and teach people the high costs of our incompetent government.   Most people don't have clue how much the government takes from each sale.    Its already way too high and still climbing rapidly.

Liberals will of course throw mud at this company.   

Full time jobs are going to be very hard to come by in this economy..........

[Septugenarian]

Some in Kalifornistan are adding a 3% ACA surcharge.

[trapeze]

I raised the prices I charge my customers last October when this BS kicked in. I raised them a LOT. And in my case it wasn't because I have employees (right now I don't for other reasons*) but rather because my own individual policy has increased.

My individual policy was around $500 per month with a $2500 deductible. I liked it better several years ago when it was closer to $300 per month but I still liked it. Because I had an existing policy my insurance company was able to "allow" me to keep it for another year. That came at a price that was close to $600 per month. However, at the end of this year (October to be exact) I will have my plan cancelled. Unless, of course, King Putt decides to unilaterally change the law again and "allow" people like me to keep our policies a little bit longer.

I have already checked into what I will have to pay if I go the "exchange" route. A new and improved DumbassCare policy will cost me $1200 per month and the deductible will be around $12,500 (and that is per person per year). So, I would get to pay more and get less.

So, I increased my prices in advance of this mess. I am staying out in front of this. So far I have had only one customer that I am aware of balk at my price increase but I expect that they will be back when they realize that there is no one else who can adequately serve their needs in our area. It is no boast that I am the best at what I do in my market and my competition is seriously inferior. Anyway, if my crappy competition does not also increase their prices they will only be screwing themselves. Rising costs affect everyone and if you don't deal with them they will put you under. DumbassCare is a tax and businesses don't pay taxes, their customers do.

In all likelihood I will be joining one of the medical sharing plans that allow you to opt out of DumbassCare without a penalty. It may not be insurance but I will not participate in a program that amounts to paying a second mortgage with nothing to show for it. Even with my rates going up I can't afford to shell out over ten grand out of pocket before I get paid. That's just stupid.

So, my customers will pay. And I'm certain that there will be a ripple effect through the economy from this as others do the same. Inflation.

*I gave up on employees when the economy went in the tank at the end of 2008. I have not hired any new ones since because the cost of payroll expenses, specifically worker's comp and unemployment, are ridiculous. When I need workers, as I occasionally do, I hire them as contract laborers and let them deal with their own payroll expenses. Unemployment is outrageously high since I am not paying for the alleged future needs by my employees but rather the millions of those currently leaching off of the system for 99+ weeks per person. I once had someone file on me and he burned through my accumulated unemployment funds in six months...I had to pay out the difference out of pocket after that. So screw that.

[Libertas]

I told my BIL he better add in a surcharge, would be stupid not to.