Delta vs. ObamaCare: friendly skies, unfriendly rules.

• Author: Suderman, Peter
• Position: Citings - Health insurance - Brief article

DELTA AIRLINES says that ObamaCare will cost the company $38 million directly over the next year, and nearly $100 million when all additional costs are factored in.

A June letter signed by Robert Knight, Delta's senior vice president for government affairs, said that the company will absorb some of those costs but will also end up sharing some of them with employees. Ultimately, Knight wrote, ObamaCare "will result in increasing costs, for both companies and our employees, and will also reduce the benefits provided."

The bulk of the letter, which was obtained and published by Erick Erickson at RedState.com, details the specific provisions that Delta expects to add to the company's costs. Those include: a "reinsurance fee" of $63 per covered individual, which makes family coverage more expensive, and which the company estimates will cost about $10...