Obama administration rejects Republican states' health law waiver requests

◼ The Obama administration on Monday rejected two states’ requests for waivers from the healthcare reform law. - The Hill

The decision could rekindle the controversy over the waiver process, as the two states that were turned down, Indiana and Louisiana, have Republican governors. GOP leaders at the state level have been extremely critical of the healthcare law and the requirements that it imposes on states....

To date, HHS has granted waivers to seven states: Maine, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Nevada, Iowa, Georgia and Wisconsin. The department has denied them to Delaware and North Dakota.

◼ RELATED: Nancy Pelosi on 1,800 Obamacare Waiver Recipients: Mostly Very Small Companies such as McDonalds and Darden Restaurants. Heck, entire states have gotten waivers (but only very small ones).

Also being allowed on the waiver train have been other not-so-small entities, such as AARP and countless labor unions. The United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund, with 351,000 people, was also a waiver recipient.

Pelosi also should have said the waivers went to “mostly unionized companies” instead of “mostly small companies.”

Quite a few of those businesses are also in Pelosi’s district. In May, 20 percent of a single round of waivers went to businesses located in the area Pelosi represents — but to very small businesses, so “nothing to see here.” - Michelle Malkin (10/29/11)

◼ Waiver-mania! The ever-expanding Obamacare escapee list - Michelle Malkin (11/14/10)