Daily Mail
Some Denny’s franchises to charge 5% ObamaCare surcharge
With Obamacare due to be fully implemented in January 2014, Metz has justified his move by claiming it is ‘the only alternative. I’ve got to pass on the cost to the customer.’…
‘Obviously, I’d love to cover all our employees under that insurance,’ said Metz.
‘But to pay $5,000 per employee would cost us $175,000 per restaurant and unfortunately, most of our restaurants don’t make $175,000 a year. I can’t afford it.’
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You sure about that?
I’ve run restaurants, though not a Dennys, and 175k seems optimistic for a Dennys. I’d wager most his stores are under 50k a year.
Think about how many customers a Dennys has to bring in to have a 10k day? Then think what their profit margin is? Maybe 10%. I worked in a place in college that did less than 30k a week in sales.
jhffmn on November 15, 2012 at 1:47 PM
Obama’s America:
Millionaires and billionaires = 200k a year
Fulltime = 30 hours a week
Middle class = those depending on government surrport
Chuck Schick on November 15, 2012 at 1:49 PM
Like I said, I don’t know any Denny’s managers or owners. The ones I know were running fast food joints. Maybe the profit margins are higher in those kinds of restaurants. I’m almost certain they serve more customers in a typical day than a sitdown place like Denny’s. Plus you don’t have to account for tips for the workers in the fast food industry if that counts for anything.
Doughboy on November 15, 2012 at 1:54 PM
And I said nothing, because I wasn’t a pizza.
And I said nothing, because I wasn’t a bacon sandwich.
Obama is a true believer, and will never stop, until everything comports to his wonderful utopian vision of equality for everyone. Where at the same time it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, rich or poor, young or old, gay or straight or bisexual or transgendered, yet at the same time, that’s all that matters. Don’t ask any questions. Just go with it.
Paul-Cincy on November 15, 2012 at 1:54 PM
I dunno anything about fast food but all of owners I’ve ever known tend to own 5+ establishments. I think that’s probably the trick to making it worth your while. That and you can always sell back the property you worked to own.
jhffmn on November 15, 2012 at 2:09 PM
Their french toast is so awesome that sure, I’ll pay 5% more. IHOP can raise my blueberry pancakes’ price, too!
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on November 15, 2012 at 2:13 PM
True, although doesn’t Obamacare also tax them on the sale of the property? So even if they decide to get out of the business altogether because of shrinking or non-existent profit margins, they’ll still get hit by this law.
Doughboy on November 15, 2012 at 2:20 PM
Anyone owning a restaurant deserves every dime they earn. What they have to put up with is incredible. First they earn the capital in order to go into business and then they go to work having fight all sorts of obstacles, just as any small business owner knows.
SC.Charlie on November 15, 2012 at 2:24 PM
It is a significant disincentive to grow fledgling branch based businesses like new restaurant chains.
If you have 3 premises in 2 counties and 40 employees spread across them, ObamaCare gives you a huge freakin ‘T’ in your SWOT analysis of the business case to open up your third restaurant.
Barky said he understands small business is the engine of growth, so either he’s in default mode (lying) or this is deliberate.
CorporatePiggy on November 15, 2012 at 2:30 PM
♪♫♪ ♪♫ Buraq-a-Claus is coming to townnnnn!!
slickwillie2001 on November 15, 2012 at 2:44 PM
More and more compaies need to start doing what this guy proposed: Add a line item surcharge for Obamacare to your bills. That way the Obama voters will have to look at what their crappy vote has bought them. Obama voters aren’t smart enough to put 2 and 2 together, so if businesses just raise their costs, they don’t ever see the consequences of their actions. Keep prices the same, and add a 5% surcharge for Obamacare onto every bill.
Free Indeed on November 15, 2012 at 3:18 PM
Haa! Love it.
Put a line item on every receipt and tag on every product. You could call it the “Galt label”!
batter on November 15, 2012 at 3:19 PM
Businesses should make health care costs distinct and clear to employees and their customers.
The problem is even worse than shown here as Denny’s suppliers will also need to pass their increasing costs on to Denny’s as well, and those costs too should be made visible to Denny’s and to the end consumer.
The economic problems created and saved by O-care are systemic and include retail and wholesale producers, with costs being aggregated onto the consumer (where possible).
This move by the Denny’s franchisee is a tiny, but essential first step toward ensuring a clear understanding of the real costs of health care by the average consumer.
The biggest and most necessary first step toward achieving real solutions for our health care problems is to make all costs, direct and indirect, public and private, highly visible and crystal clear to consumers – who right now, don’t have a clue what health care *really* costs them and the nation. No.Clue.
It doesn’t take a rocket-economist to understand how expensive gasoline, oil changes, engine overhauls, and tires would cost if paid for by automobile insurance paid for in great part by employers and government and with next to zero visibility of true costs provided to drivers/consumers…
That is one of the basic reasons health care is so expensive.
DrDeano on November 15, 2012 at 3:19 PM
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