Business owner who complained to Scott about 'Obamacare' says he was misinformed

In what has become one of his go-to anecdotes in criticizing the health care law, Gov. Rick Scott tells the story of a small business owner was afraid the law would put him out of business. Scott shared this anecdote with Fox News, in a speech in downtown Tampa, and even to a gathering of Pasco County Republicans. In Pasco, Scott said he was stopping in for a Blizzard at Dairy Queen when he spoke to the restaurant owner.

Today, the Times/Herald caught up with Jamshaid "Dean" Mohyuddin, who owns the Dairy Queen on Tallahassee's North Monroe Street. He confirmed that the governor did come into his fast food restaurant recently and that he complained to Scott about the insurance requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (Pictured, left to right, are employees Maria Paz, Stanya Thompson, Mohyuddin and his son Humzah Mohyuddin.)

Mohyuddin had heard about the Affordable Care Act and its requirements that businesses provide health insurance to their workers, and it worried him. He told the governor that he can't afford to shoulder such costs. "What will this mean?" he remembers asking Scott.

"I'm a businessman myself, and I and I don’t even have health insurance," Mohyuddin said. "I can’t afford it.”

Scott encouraged him to link up with other business owners to support Mitt Romney's campaign for president, Mohyuddin remembers.

But what he didn't know at the time was that this provision of Obamacare doesn't affect him because he has fewer than 50 employees. He didn't know that he was exempt from providing insurance or paying related fines until he spoke to the Times/Herald.

"That helps me a lot," Mohyuddin said. "I always thought I had to do this."

Scott's office refused to confirm if the governor was talking about Mohyuddin when he shared those anecdotes. But Mohyuddin's recollection of their meeting seems to match the story Scott has been telling.

"They walked up to me and they said, 'Governor, is this really going to become the law? Because if it does, we're out of business,' " Scott told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren Friday. " 'We have 20 employees; we know we won't be able to buy any health care for anybody.' "

In Tampa, the governor said: "I think they had about 20 employees, and they said, 'Governor, will this bill become law?' And I said, ‘I hope not. And I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t.’ Because they said, 'We will have to close. We cannot afford the penalty for this.' But we’ll see what happens.”

Today, PolitiFact rated the governor's statements "pants on fire."

We asked the Scott's office why he would continue to tell this story if he knew that such a small business would not be affected by this part of the law. Brian Burgess, the governor's communications director, responded in a way that re-interprets the governor's anecdote.

"The actual business name or number of employees is irrelevant," Burgess wrote in an email. "The point the business owner was making is that ObamaCare creates a barrier to growth at 50 employees, and the Governor, like the business owner in the example, finds it alarming that ObamaCare will punish an employer for hiring more people.  Penalties like that prevent growth and makes it harder to stay in business."

We replied to Burgess' email and pointed out that the governor never mentioned that the business owner was concerned about his ability to grow, rather the focus was on the man's ability to afford his current employees. We'll let you know if/when we hear back.

Comments

[marco]

a

[Jorge]

Is this objective journalism? At least shift tone and TRY to conceal the existence of bias. The summer must be putting a squeeze on you guys to produce, but a strained and overtly hostile piece such as this? With factual elements of the story acknowledged & ideology removed, your readers still deserve better than this.

[cole]

oh those pesky facts get in the way of my lie

[c_sense]

What's with the whining, Jorge?
The governor lied again, just like he lied about the drug use of welfare recipients, just like he lied when he promised to create 700,000 jobs IN ADDITION to the projected growth and now he denies that he ever said that (700,000 is actually much less than the projected growth, so why on earth would ANYBODY vote for him because of jobs?)
This is a BLOG, not a news article, it is obviously very well researched and I as a Florida resident definitely want to know if what our elected officials say is right or wrong.
So dry the tears Jorge, this is not biased journalism, it is just our sorry excuse for a governor screwing the people of Florida over once again!

[Ray]

A business with less than 25 employees can qualify for tax credits to aid in providing health insurance. Wonder why Scott didn't inform Mr. Mohyuddin of that option??

[stopwhining]

Like "c_sense"!

[Big Conservative Voice]

Okay go back to the business owner and tell him that he must pay insurance for himself and his wife or face up to $2000.00 in non compliance taxes. Tell him each one of his employees, including his son will have to buy insurance or pay a lower tax. Tell him that he must show on his tax return each year that he has the insurance.

Then ask him what he is going to do to cover the additional expense? What will he do when his employees tell him they need more money to cover the new taxes?

See what his response is then.

[narciso]

It's not as clearcut as Politifacts puts it;

http://www.obamacarewatch.org/primer/employer-mandate

[Jackson Smack]

There is definitely something wrong with Gov. Rick Scott. I think he needs a mental evaluation. He makes no sense.

[Anti-Tallahassee]

The Governor is never going to get used to being an employee. In his previous life as thief in chief at HCA, people did not question his BS. They wished they did when they got hit with the 1.5 BILLION fine. Now, he is trying to BS his way through life, but there is way too much scrutiny. His character cannot stand up to the light.
In this circumstance, this is a travesty, because Obamacare is BAD for our state and the nation.