Yes, the Daily Caller made it look bad by misreprsenting the facts. Here now is actually why more waivers went to the San Francisco area:
"WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) played no role in the process by which health care waivers were granted to a number of businesses in her district, according to the company that actually requested the waivers on behalf of its clients.
Flex-Plan Services, a third-party benefits administrator based in Bellevue, Wash., made the formal applications for waivers from President Barack Obama's health care law, said it founder, Hilarie Aitken.
"I don’t tend to vote Democratic, but I feel bad for Nancy Pelosi," Aitken told HuffPost. "She’s really being thrown under the bus here. It has nothing to do with her at all. This was just a political power play. The way that they are shaping this -- that the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, [is behind] all these waivers being granted, and how could she do this -- it’s all slanted and wrong".
The admission deals a blow to the implication made Tuesday morning by the Daily Caller: It claimed Democratic lawmakers were effectively exempting businesses in their districts from the more onerous requirements of the presidential health care law. This was based on the fact that, of the 204 waiver requests that were approved in April, 38 were for restaurants, nightclubs or hotels in Pelosi's district.
“It looks like ObamaCare’s backroom sweetheart deals didn’t end when it became law,” said Michael Steel, the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), in a second Daily Caller story.
In actuality, Aitken explained, the high percentage of waivers is the byproduct of local law rubbing against the new national legislation. In April 2008, San Francisco passed an ordinance requiring employers to spend a minimum amount per hour on health care for their employees who work in the city. In response, a number of eateries chose to set up Health Reimbursement Arrangements, which are essentially pools of funds set aside by employers to reimburse medical expenses paid by employees.
HRAs are serviced by a third-party administrator or plan service provider. They are also subject to the annual limit provision in the national health care law, which is set at $750,000 in 2011 before it is eliminated fully in 2014."
Nancy Pelosi Is Being 'Thrown Under The Bus,' Says Company That Requested Health Care Waivers