Why Burger King Doesn't Like Obamacare

President Obama’s health-care law will force businesses to buy insurance for their employees or get slapped with a fine. But one category of employers will be spared that expense: businesses with fewer than 50 workers. Many of the roughly 4.5 million businesses that employ fewer than 50 workers are familiar restaurant franchises: Burger King, McDonalds, Subway.

These companies use lots of part-time workers and are unlikely to pay them full health benefits, given the high cost of providing insurance. Many of these part-time workers are poor enough that the government is already subsidizing their health care through Medicaid. Obamacare expands that support: Medicaid will cover more people, and families earning up to 400 percent of the poverty line will get a lot of subsidies to help them buy insurance on state health exchanges.