America’s largest restaurant chain, McDonald’s, plans on keeping their “mini-med” plans for employees according to the article “McDonald’s Fights Back Against Report It Will Drop Health Care Plan” by Daniel Arnall and Huma Khan.  There were some rumors the plans were being dropped which would be bad news for employees, but this is not the case.

“Mini-med” health insurance plans offer limited coverage at minimal employee cost and an economic way for companies to sustain health insurance options for employees.  The new health care reform law is causing a bit of a challenge for McDonald’s as they make sure their plans meet new criteria found in health care reform.

About 30,000 McDonald’s employees participate in this plan which offers a max of $2,000 to $10,000 a year in basic medical coverage at a low cost of $14 to $32 a week.  The battle comes because McDonald’s has a higher overhead cost because is offers health insurance to a highly transient population of hourly employees and may not meet some of the requirements of the health care law.  McDonald’s is working with the government to ensure employees keep their affordable health insurance.