Citizens coming together for another attempt at change on West Madison Utility Board

Last month, residents who rely on West Madison Utility to provide water and sewer went as many as 16 days with neither. But, as most residents know, this is nothing new.

Over the years, attempts have been made. Local contractors and residents have tried to get involved to fix the problems. But, the West Madison Board has resisted. When confronted with the fact that they haven't been doing their job at board meetings, they simply go into executive session, and have even called the cops on residents who refused to leave.

As a result of the newest issues, citizens are again coming together to confront the board and find solutions to the decades old problem. But, after the latest meeting, it would seem that the board is still very defensive. A group of 35 plus in attendance on October 4 got to see the secretary of West Madison Utility verbally threaten one resident. The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the secretary challenged her to fight.

 "She told me that we could go outside and pretty much she was saying we could fight," said the unnamed meeting attendee.

Promises of  no disconnections for the month of September were not kept, reconnection fees were charged, and some residents still saw bills in excess of $100 despite receiving no service from September 14 through September 30.

The citizens group has formed a committee and hired a lawyer. They plan to meet with Supervisor Karl Banks on Tuesday and ask for assistance moving forward. However, Banks has never been very helpful with this situation in the past, even going so far as to blame residents. Banks has used the problem to his political advantage over the past 25 years, but done little to help.

Residents are working with Rural Development hoping to have West Madison audited. Currently, rural water associations are only required to submit an annual "self-audit" to the State Auditor's office for review. That lack of oversight into the business practices of rural water associations invites mismanagement and misuse.

Questions have arisen regarding the award of a $400,000 grant many months ago to the utility that has never materialized. Some residents suggest it is sitting in a bank account unused. Others say misused.

Then there is the old story of the West Madison Director years ago who left town following the award of a grant, moving to Arkansas. The grant money supposedly disappeard with her. But, due to her connections with both Supervisor Karl Banks and Congressman Bennie Thompson she nor the money were heard from again.

Whether some of these stories are true or not remains to be seen. But, their is almost always a hint of truth, even in a lie. The fact that it is believable shows how far we have come, and how low West Madison Utility has fallen. If some of the mismanagement rumors turn out to be true there is further to fall yet.

If there is a silver lining, it is that the crisis has brought together the community like never before.

Said one, "Blacks and whites are pulling together and working hard to ensure that we no longer have to live with these injustices."

Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month at 6:00 pm. at the Kearney Park Community Center. For more information, or to be added to the agenda call 601.879.9718. The next meeting is November 1.

Related Posts: Here we go again! Decades old problems with West Madison Water District again rears it's ugly head.
Madison Co. Routes Water From Flora To Help Cover Outage
Madison Co. residents without water get relief


West Madison Utilities/Kearney Park

MIM: A Republican Challenger To Pickering?

Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler

A couple weeks back state Auditor Stacey Pickering announced he will run for re-election rather than test the waters of a competitive lieutenant governor primary. I don’t think there is much denying that this was a victory for Republicans as Pickering looks likely to win a second term.



State Auditor Stacey Pickering

 However, last weekend Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler admitted that she at least had interest in running for state Auditor. She made that statement on the Red and Blue Review with Jere Nash as she was filing in for Andy Taggart.

To say this would be a shakeup in the race is an understatement. I would venture to say that Hawkins-Butler is probably one of the two or three most well known mayors in the state after the mayor of Jackson. Whether or not that is a positive remains to be seen. But for a Republican to run against a sitting Republican office holder would certainly be a game changer, and give political watchers like myself another highly competitive GOP primary.

MIM

Rasmussen Poll: Tea Party Participation Up As Election Nears

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say they are Tea Party members or have close friends or family members who are part of the movement.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 17% describe themselves as members of the Tea Party, up four points from late August. Twelve percent (12%) more say they are not members themselves but have friends or family who are involved in the small government, anti-tax movement.

Just after Democrats in Congress passed the national health care bill in late March, 24% of voters said they were Tea Party members, with 10% more saying they had close friends or family members who were participants.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 6-7, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports.

Rasmussen Reports

Congressman Harper says new job numbers report is "very disappointing"

Congressman Gregg Harper

U.S. Representative Gregg Harper issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the economy shed 95,000 jobs in the month of September.

“Over 18 months ago, American citizens were promised that unemployment would not surpass eight percent if the President’s trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ plan were to become law. Sadly, Mississippi has lost 30,800 jobs since this promise was made.

“Republicans understand that the federal government does not create jobs, businesses do. This is why we urged the Democratic leadership to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts before leaving Washington for the November elections. If the current tax rates are not extended by January 1, 2011, small businesses owners that pay in the 35 percent tax bracket will pay 39.6 percent. To boot, individuals that file in the lowest tax bracket will be subject a 50 percent tax increase, with their rate rising from 10 to 15 percent.

“The federal government should lend a hand to America’s employers, not weigh them down with more heavy tax increases. Today’s report of 95,000 more jobs lost in our country is very disappointing.”

Obamacare already coming unraveled: McDonald’s exempted from health care reform mandate

Bloomberg Business News reports that almost one million workers won’t get a consumer protection in U.S. health law meant to cap insurance costs because the government exempted their employers.

Thirty companies and organizations, including McDonald’s (MCD) and Jack in the Box (JACK), won’t be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees, Bloomberg said.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which provided a list of exemptions, said it granted waivers in late September so workers with such plans wouldn’t lose coverage from employers who might choose instead to drop their health insurance altogether. Without the waivers, companies would have had to provide a minimum of $750,000 in coverage next year, increasing to $1.25 million in 2012, $2 million in 2013, and unlimited coverage in 2014, according to Bloomberg.

The Associated Press reported Sept. 30 that the new health care law could make it difficult for companies like McDonald’s to continue offering limited insurance coverage to their low-wage workers.

MBJ

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler talks about a possible run for state auditor

Mayor Mary sat down with Terry Cassreino of the Better Mississippi Report recently to talk about her 30 years as Mayor of Madison and her future as a potential candidate for statewide office. You can listen to entire interview via podcast HERE.

While Mississippi and the nation have suffered through the worst recession since World War II, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler said strong management and leadership have helped her city survive.


Butler, mayor of the city of 27,000 just north of Jackson, said Madison has benefited from such things as growth in retail and the opening of a branch campus of Tulane University. Construction continues on new retail along Grandview Drive.

“There are some things that we had to cut, tighten our belt,” Butler said. “But we never want to do anything that’s going to jeopardize the safety and the health and welfare if the people.”

Butler talked about the recession, retail growth, Tulane University and her political future in a wide-ranging interview featured on Episode 11 of the “Better Mississippi Report Internet Radio Podcast” – which was released today.

Better Mississippi Report

Look for Dems to sling mud nationwide, but especially in the South.

I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.

--Margaret Thatcher

If the former British Prime Minister was right then the article by Hastings Wyman with the Southern Political Report pretty much sums up what the Dems have to offer the American public . . . gossip, mud and negativity.

Wyman reports that Democratic candidates have launched a full-scale assault of personal attacks on their Republican opponents. We Southerners will see more of it than the rest of the country.

With the policies of the Obama Administration and the Democratic congress offering them little in the way of campaign ammunition, the Democrats – mostly incumbents – are relying on an onslaught of politically damaging charges, mostly related to past business and financial dealings of the GOP standard bearers. The personal-attack strategy is present in Democratic congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns in virtually every Southern state. This, of course, is not a Southern strategy. Democratic personal attacks have dominated campaigns in California, Delaware, New York and elsewhere, but it is especially useful in Dixie, where the Obama Administration is so unpopular. 

Hyman whittles the argument down to the current leadership not offering enough "campaign ammunition". But, if good policy is good politics then you have to connect it to the simple fact that folks don't like where things are headed. The article tries to make a purely political assesment, but it can't be disconnected from the reality of the situation. People aren't rejecting the lack of campaign hype, they're rejecting the redistributive effort and pandering. Voter's are smart enough to know that a flashy logo and an ad campaign doesn't put food on the table or reduce the amount of money they are forced to give to the government.

Hyman continues,

For some of the attacks, the Democrats themselves – either in Washington or on the state or district level – have done the necessary digging into the past activities of Republican candidates. In others, the news media – mostly newspapers – have done the negative research.

Wouldn't it be great if they did as much "digging" into the solutions that would alleviate the problems?

It is noteworthy that even in hotly contested Republican primaries, few of the political time-bombs were uncovered and defused, leaving the GOP with some nominees who are weaker than they were when they were nominated. Moreover, because most of the Democrats, especially the freshmen, anticipated a tough reelection battle and raised flush war chests, their campaigns – aided by Washington-based Democratic committees – have well-funded advertising budgets to make sure the negative message gets out there.

Sickening isn't it? Why build yourself and your constituents up, when you can knock others down to your level with the help of your DC committees?

The GOP is not responding in kind, but continues to hammer away at the policies of President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. “Pretty much all of our candidates are running on the issues,” says National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Andy Sere. “There are plenty of negative ads, but all on the issues, on votes and quotes.” He adds, “Personal attacks are not relevant to unemployment.”

Running on the issues. What a novel concept. One we can only hope isn't drowned out by the negativity.

Another One Bites the Dust: 3M to Change Health-Plan Options for Workers

First McDonald's warned federal regulators last week that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers due to Obamacare.

Now this.

3M Co. confirmed it would eventually stop offering its health-insurance plan to retirees, citing the federal health overhaul as a factor.

The changes won't start to phase in until 2013. But they show how companies are beginning to respond to the new law, which should make it easier for people in their 50s and early-60s to find affordable policies on their own. While thousands of employers are tapping new funds from the law to keep retiree plans, 3M illustrates that others may not opt to retain such plans over the next few years

The St. Paul, Minn., manufacturing conglomerate notified employees on Friday that it would change retiree benefits both for those who are too young to qualify for Medicare and for those who qualify for the Medicare program. Both groups will get an unspecified health reimbursement instead of having access to a company-sponsored health plan.

The maker of Post-it notes and Scotch tape said it made the announcement now to give retirees a chance to explore different options during this year's benefit-enrollment period, according to a 3M memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A 3M spokeswoman, Jacqueline Berry, confirmed the contents of the memo.

"As you know, the recently enacted health care reform law has fundamentally changed the health care insurance market," the memo said. "Health care options in the marketplace have improved, and readily available individual insurance plans in the Medicare marketplace provide benefits more tailored to retirees' personal needs often at lower costs than what they pay for retiree medical coverage through 3M.

"In addition, health care reform has made it more difficult for employers like 3M to provide a plan that will remain competitive," the memo said. The White House says retiree-only plans are largely exempt from new health insurance regulations under the law.

The company didn't specify how many workers would be impacted. It currently has 23,000 U.S. retirees.

WSJ

Demint: The Fired Congress

Senator Jim Demint

BY: Senator Jim Demint

In December, more than a dozen senators will come back to Washington and decide how much more tax money to take from Americans, without being accountable to any of them.

Some companies have a policy that once someone is fired, they aren’t allowed back on the premises out of fear they might do further damage to the company. It’s too bad Congress doesn’t have the same policy. Because before they’re replaced in January, all of the Democrats who are put out of a job in November will be able to come back and rob the nation blind.

More than a dozen senators will come back to Washington and decide how much more tax money to take from Americans, without being accountable to any of them. Higher taxes, cap-and-trade, amnesty, and card check will be top-priority items for the Fired Congress, otherwise known as the lame-duck Congress. They’re also likely to roll unfinished appropriations bills into a massive, pork-stuffed omnibus to snag every last possible earmark on their way out of Washington.

This must not happen. The only acceptable outcome of the lame-duck session is a continuing resolution to keep government operating at current levels of spending and taxation, as I pushed the Senate to do in 2006 after Republicans lost the majority to the Democrats. No last-minute earmarks, no add-ons, no tax increases, and no big deficit spending.

By simply passing a continuing resolution that kept the government funded at current levels until February 2007, Republicans stopped more than 10,000 earmarks from being enacted and prevented big spenders in Congress from wasting billions of dollars on pork-barrel projects. Then, 2007 became the year without earmarks, because when that temporary continuing resolution expired in February, Congress extended it for the rest of the year. We should adopt the same approach during the 2010 lame-duck session.

To stop a wasteful omnibus and instead secure a continuing resolution, Republicans must hold together. Fortunately, the GOP may have a few reinforcements on the way. Three new senators will take office immediately following the midterms — one each from Delaware, Illinois, and West Virginia, where special elections are being held to replace temporarily appointed senators. And the Republicans running in these races are eager to help.

Illinois Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk has promised that if he wins, “I will become the 42nd Republican senator, with the opportunity to put the brakes on any lame-duck overreach.”

Delaware Republican candidate Christine O’Donnell has made it part of her pitch, too. “Who do you want serving in that lame-duck session?” she has said. “Someone who’s going to promote that very liberal agenda that can’t even get enough Democratic support, or someone who is going to push back against the establishment?”

West Virginia’s Republican Senate candidate, John Raese, who is up in the polls, has stated unequivocally that he would oppose the Democrats’ lame-duck agenda. He has said, “It is completely inappropriate for House and Senate Democrats, who would be in cahoots with President Obama, to take up any legislation that would significantly affect the country after an election that will considerably alter the political landscape of Congress. Any attempt to do so would be a slap in the face to all Americans who voted for a change from the liberal status quo.”

More candidates should go on the record with such statements. There’s a whole month of campaigning left before the midterms, and voters can extract promises from their elected officials not to let the Fired Congress pass major legislation. This is a reasonable request that even the Democrats should be able to support. Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck has called on Democratic senator Michael Bennet to promise to oppose any tax hikes Harry Reid may try to ram through during the lame-duck session. All Senate Democrats up for election this year should be asked to do the same.

Getting more elected officials to speak out against a spendthrift lame-duck session can help deter the Democratic leadership from cramming it with votes. It’s been reported that Democrats are considering as many as 20 pieces of legislation to bring up for a vote. After failing to get the New START Treaty (an agreement that hurts America’s missile-defense systems) ratified, to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and to pass legislation to give amnesty to illegal aliens, Democrats see opportunity after the elections, when a number of their members won’t have anything to lose.

Democrats are also hoping that the pressure of a Christmas deadline will get some Republicans to break their way. White House senior adviser David Axelrod recently said he thinks Republicans will “blink” and help Democrats raise taxes as the end-of-the year deadline approaches. Republicans must not cave.

Democrats are playing political games and Americans are going to fire them for it in November. When the Democrats come back in December to box up their personal belongings, Republicans must make sure that’s all they take with them.

Jim DeMint is a U.S. senator from South Carolina.

NRO

MCH: State audit probing county contracts

Madison County officials can soon expect the results of a state audit that looked at the county's contracts for services.

"We will have a final draft in a week for the Board of Supervisors and a final report a week after that," said Laney Grantham, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Audit.

The final report in two weeks will be made public, she said.

The audit was prompted by months of questions raised by city officials, citizens and others over the county's engineering contracts and what county residents are getting for their tax dollars. Last year, the boards of Madison and Ridgeland approved resolutions for an for an audit of fees paid to Rudy Warnock, the county engineer. Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler has also questioned Warnock's business practices and contracted with an outside engineer to analyze Warnock's contracts and works with the county on road and bridge projects.

In a special meeting last Thursday to close out the 2009-2010 budget year, the supervisors did what [Supervisor Tim] Johnson called "housekeeping" to clear up some issues raised by the Audit Department. The board granted the authority to department heads to contact any vendors if they needed more information to finalize county business and not ask supervisors for the right on a case-by-case basis.

Supervisor Karl Banks agreed with the move, but added that board members also have the right to ask for additional information or verification on bills "because we are the ones ultimately responsible. Any claims that don't have proper documentation should be held until they can be verified."

The board also noted for its minutes, which serves as the county's official record, that board attorney Eric Hamer and Warnock have contract with the county until the end of the current term in 2011. Hamer said he was told by the former county administrator that their contracts did not have to be renewed each year.

Johnson said that contract issue also resolves questions raised by the Audit Department. "We hire a professional engineer and a professional attorney and authorize them to do contract work for Madison County," he said.

"As board members, if our attorney recommends a contract to protect the county's interests, we go along with him. The minute we lose that faith, we replace him," Johnson said.

The out-of-state engineer's analysis of Warnock's work, issued by Butler in February, offered the opinions that the county failed in having adequate controls over contracts and that Warnock's firms was paid excessive fees.

Warnock has denied all the allegations in the report. A majority of the Board of Supervisors has stood firm in support with Warnock and the county contracts with his firm.

Read Related Posts HERE

MBJ Video: Harper Predicts GOP House Victory, "Bigger Than 1994"

From the Stennis Institute Luncheon:

We're teaming up with The Blue Rooster for an October Surprise!

Anyone who watches politics looks to October with great anticipation. One can often expect a challenger who is behind in polls or who is attempting to gain a little more name recognition to come forward with a jaw-dropper just prior to November elections.
Well, here at the Harvester, we're helping engineer an October Surprise for our friends at The Blue Rooster just in time for another November election. And, you can be a beneficiary. After all everybody loves a surprise.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to the email subscription to the right of The Flora Harvester website and enter your email and follow the Feedburner directions.


2. Look to your email inbox, and verify that you subscribed.

3. Stay tuned to your email for a notice that you won a free appetizer from The Blue Rooster. We're giving one away every week in October beginning Monday, the eleventh. This should be sufficiently enticing to get you in to the restaurant to try the Best Burger in Mississippi (Frankly, the appetizers are pretty darn good too!)

The Rooster Burger. You're drooling aren't you?

4. Vote for Mississippi's Best Burger by clicking HERE . Enter in The Blue Rooster, Flora Mississippi, and the Rooster Burger. Be sure and click Done at the bottom of the page. Voting goes on through the first week of November.

5. Read The Flora Harvester. We'll give our online subscribers and Facebook Friends an opportunity to double the chance to win throughout the month.


We'll give away an appetizer every week starting Monday, October 11.

Now here's the kicker, the real reward for those who have a long enough attention span to read this far: The entire list of subscribers, including double-chancer's will be entered for a chance to receive a Dinner For Two at The Blue Rooster. We'll draw on October 29th.

Now Get To Work.
Enter, Win, Vote and Eat.


NOTE: Some restrictions apply: Offer good for two entree's and two non-alcoholic drinks.
Questions? Comments? Email us at floraharvester@bellsouth.net

Medicaid! Just Look At It Grow!

BY: Peter Suderman

At the beginning of the summer, legislators in Congress balked at a proposal to extend the additional federal Medicaid funding initially included in the stimulus. And for a moment, it looked as if the money might not come through. But eventually a funding measure passed. State budgets got a big break. Officials in several states had built an expectation of that extension into their budgets, and without it, those states would’ve been certain to face significant shortfalls. Now, thanks to that extension, the cost of Medicaid to the states has actually declined slightly. But the program is funded jointly by the states and the federal government, meaning that the size of the state fiscal burden isn’t necessarily representative of the size of the program as a whole. And a new report by Kaiser indicates that, in total, the program has expanded beyond what was expected over the last year:

This was the highest rate of growth in 8 years and exceeded the 6.3 percent spending growth that Medicaid directors had expected; higher than expected enrollment, driven by the recession and job losses, was behind the higher spending. State legislatures have authorized a slower 7.4 percent rate of Medicaid spending growth for the current fiscal year, but two-thirds of states said the chances of a spending shortfall were at least 50-50.

If you fund it, it will grow. If you fund it more, it will grow even more.

Despite the extra billions provided for the program, it’s not enough. (It will never be enough.) “There seems to be no end in sight for the fiscal pressure on Medicaid programs,” the lead author of Kaiser’s Medicaid report tells Health Affairs. And that, of course, leads to greater and greater demands for funding. Already there’s talk about extending the extra federal funding again next summer. Temporary funding is rarely temporary.

And rather than attempt to slow the program’s growth, or cut it back, Congress voted to make it significantly larger: Half of the new health care law’s projected expansion of insurance coverage comes through Medicaid. By the end of the decade, that law is expected to result in additional 16 million individuals getting covered through the program. Historically, state-based efforts to expand Medicaid have not had much success. And overall the program’s record is one of spotty health outcomes and rapidly expanding cost.

Stupid is as stupid does

Support for Repeal of Health Care Law Down to 50%

The number of voters who favor repeal of the health care law has fallen to its lowest level since the bill was passed by Congress in late March.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 50% still favor repeal of the bill, including 41% who Strongly Favor repeal.

Forty-four percent (44%) of voters say repeal of the law would be good for the economy, while 33% say it would be bad for the economy.


However, just 30% say repeal would lead to the creation of more jobs, showing little change since April. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree and says the law’s repeal would not lead to more job creation. Another 33% are not sure.

With midterm elections scarcely a month away, health care ranks as the second most important issue out of a list of 10 regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.

Rasmussen Reports

Can you spot the Democrat in this picture?

Joel Gill sign sightings have begun in a few areas around Madison County. The one pictured below is at the intersection of Highway 22 and 463. Notice anything missing?  No mention he's a Democrat. No indication except for that tiny little donkey. But the word "CONSERVATIVE" sure is prominently displayed, huh?


What is Mr. Gill ashamed of?

Can you find this Donkey in the picture below? Hope your wearing your specs!

He claims he's the most conservative person running for Congress.

Can he be more conservative THAN THIS GUY LISTED ON LINE 3?

10:10 Climate Change Campaign creator's actions proves the campaign's uselessness (Video)

Franny "Super Carbon" Armstrong

Franny Armstrong, the creator of the self described climate change "blockbuster" movie,  admits that the only way she could make it was to increase her carbon footprint 10 fold. Begin watching the video below at around 1:10.

Fran has been quoted as saying, "If you're not fighting climate change or improving the world, you're wasting your life."

Funny that the only way she could "improve" the world was by burning enough carbon to fuel a small village.

The audacity of these people is stunning. They can rationalize almost any behaviour as long as it gets them to their end result. Does it make sense to increase your carbon footprint by 10 fold, in order create a movie to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint?

Makes no sense. Unless your making money.

This idiot logic is so outside the realm of sanity that it might need a referral for medication.

Health inspector called on the Reds for celebration cigars

So much for celebrating. The Reds will be investigated by the Cincinnati Heath Department for violations of the state smoking ban.

Complaints of players smoking cigars indoors after they clinched the National League Central Division were filed Tuesday night.

Players could be seen on TV smoking their celebratory cigars in the locker room handed out by Reds owner Bob Castellini.

Five people called a statewide smoking ban complaint hotline, said Rocky Merz, health department spokesman.

USA Today

I didn't do it!

Another Obamacare Casualty: McDonald's May Drop Health Plan

McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.

McDonald's warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. Janet Adamy discusses. Also, Neal Lipschutz discusses the exit plan that the U.S. has agreed on to exit the governments interest in AIG.

McDonald's May Drop Health Plan: The chain has told regulators it may ditch its plan unless a new health-care requirement is waived, Janet Adamy reports.

The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers' health plans as the law ripples through the real world.

Trade groups representing restaurants and retailers say low-wage employers might halt their coverage if the government doesn't loosen a requirement for "mini-med" plans, which offer limited benefits to some 1.4 million Americans.

The requirement concerns the percentage of premiums that must be spent on benefits.

While many restaurants don't offer health coverage, McDonald's provides mini-med plans for workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. A single worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week to get coverage up to $10,000 a year.

Last week, a senior McDonald's official informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain's insurer won't meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80% to 85% of its premium revenue on medical care.

McDonald's and trade groups say the percentage, called a medical loss ratio, is unrealistic for mini-med plans because of high administrative costs owing to frequent worker turnover, combined with relatively low spending on claims.

Read entire article: WSJ