Restaurant Chain CEO to Impose Obamacare Surcharge on Customers

November 15th, 2012 8:26 AM

It seems with each passing day since the President was re-elected another business owner is coming out to address how he or she is going to make up for the additional costs that will occur once health care reform is fully implemented.

On Wednesday, John Metz, the CEO of Hurricane Grill & Wings restaurants said that he's going to impose an Obamacare surcharge on customers.

Speaking with the Huffington Post, Metz said, "If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of Obamacare."

"Although it may sound terrible that I'm doing this," Metz continued, "it's the only alternative. I've got to pass the cost on to the consumer."

For those unfamiliar, Hurricane Grill & Wings is a growing restaurant chain with 48 locations in Florida, Georgia, and Nevada.

Metz is also the president and owner of RREMC Restaurants, which runs approximately 40 Denny's and several Dairy Queen locations.

According to the Post, Metz is planning on imposing his surcharge January 2014 when Obamacare is fully implemented.

As many companies in recent years have imposed fuel surcharges to accommodate for rising energy prices, it will be interesting to see if Metz's strategy catches on.

Stay tuned.