On the claim that Obama is waiving the law for Democratic campaign contributors



<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; text-align: left; ">On Michael Barone's claim that Secretary Sibelius is "waiving away the law" for Obama campaign contributors: Barone: "If Obamacare is so great, why do so many people want to get out from under it?... Union members are only 12 percent of all employees but have gotten 50.3 percent of Obamacare waivers.... What other factors may be considered? Political contributions or connections? (Unions contributed $400 million to Democrats in the 2008 campaign cycle.) The [HHS] websites don’t say..." The Department of HHS: "Mini-med plans... do not provide security in the event of serious illness or accident, they are unfortunately the only option that some employers offer.... [T]he Affordable Care Act allows these plans to apply for temporary waivers from rules restricting the size of annual limits to [coverage].... Waivers only last for one year and are only available if the plan certifies that a waiver is necessary to prevent either a large increase in premiums or a significant decrease in access.... No other provision of the Affordable Care Act is affected by these waivers: they only apply to the annual limit policy..."