Delta Warns ObamaCare Will Add $100 Million in Health-Care Costs

Delta Warns ObamaCare Will Drive $100 Million Spike in Health Care Costs (Fox News)

Delta Air Lines has issued an urgent warning about the impact of ObamaCare, claiming the law's implementation will contribute to a roughly $100 million increase in health care costs next year alone.

The astonishing figure was included in a letter from Delta executive Robert Kight to officials in the Obama administration. The website RedState.com was the first to obtain and publish the letter earlier this week.
A representative with Delta confirmed the authenticity of the letter to FoxNews.com.

"Like many large companies, Delta faces significantly increased healthcare costs in 2014 and beyond," the company said in a statement on Friday. "Delta will absorb the vast majority of those increased costs so that we can continue providing a high value, high quality health plan. Consistent with our culture, Delta will always keep the best interests of our people in mind in connection with the healthcare and other benefits we provide."

In the original letter, Kight disputes the notion that the law -- the biggest parts of which take effect at the start of 2014 -- will mean "business as usual" for big employers. A combination of factors, he claimed, will "mean that the cost of providing health care to our employees will increase by nearly $100,000,000 next year."

Part of that is normal medical inflation and the phase-out of an assistance program tied to the health care law. But a large chunk of it, the exec claimed, comes from various fees and costs associated with the implementation of the health care law.