McDonald's and Jack in the Box are among the 30 U.S. employers that have been given health coverage waivers in order to protect coverage for nearly one million workers, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The waivers mean the companies won't have to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost plans typically used to provide coverage for part-time or low-wage workers, Bloomberg News reported. The waivers were granted in September so that workers with these types of plans wouldn't lose coverage if an employer decided to drop health insurance altogether due to increasing coverage levels, government officials said. "The big political issue here is the president promised no one would lose the coverage they've got," Robert Laszewski, chief executive officer of consulting company Health Policy and Strategy Associates, told Bloomberg. "Here we are a month before the election, and these companies represent 1 million people who would lose the coverage they've got."
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