Pizza Prices Will Go Up Under Obamacare

Shades of 1994, when Herman Cain, CEO of Godfathers Pizza, confronted Bill Clinton on Clinton’s health care proposal: now pizza chain Papa John’s is issuing a warning to its shareholders that ObamaCare will force prices on their pizza to rise. There were 3,973 Papa John’s restaurants operating in 50 states and in 33 countries in June of this year. CEO and founder John Schnatter, who supports Mitt Romney and fundraises for him, said that ObamaCare will result in higher costs to Papa John’s, and those costs will balloon the prices consumers will pay:

Our best estimate is that the ObamaCare will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza, or 15 to 20 cents per order from a corporate basis. We’re not supportive of Obamacare, like most businesses in our industry. But our business model and unit economics are about as ideal as you can get for a food company to absorb ObamaCare. If ObamaCare is in fact not repealed, we will find tactics to shallow out any ObamaCare costs and core strategies to pass that cost onto consumers in order to protect our shareholders best interests.

The restaurant industry is worried about ObamaCare. The National Restaurant Association notes that the law requires companies which have more than 50 employees to provide affordable health insurance or face steep penalties. McDonald’s reports that ObamaCare will cost each of its 14,000 franchises between $10,000 and $30,000 every year, and Burger King, Quiznos, and Dunkin’ Donuts are also expecting to be hit hard.

Don’t worry about the Obamas and the rising cost of pizza; they’re making enough money that Michelle can have two.