Red Lobster’s Obamacare fail: Why ditching health benefits is really hard

Cross-post from Sarah Kliff at the Washington Post’s Wonkblog:

In the world of health policy, Darden Restaurants may become a cautionary tale. The company, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, recently announced plans to test limiting workers’ hours, in order to dodge the health-law’s mandate that employers with more than 50 workers offer coverage to full-time employees.

It didn’t exactly go so well: The company revised its earnings projections downward after seeing a backlash to the decision. Thursday, Darden announced it had completed the test period, deciding it would not move forward with the limited-hours model. [Read the full post.]