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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Obamacare Surcharge Added to Bills at Franny's Pizza Shop in Brooklyn

 Pizza at Franny's in Brooklyn will cost at least three percent more due to a
Pizza at Franny's in Brooklyn will cost at least three percent more due to a "Affordable Care Act surcharge" added to bills to pay for health care, its owners said.
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PARK SLOPE — A local pizza joint is getting a little pricier to pay for health care, its owners said this week.

Flatbush Avenue favorite Franny’s is adding a three percent surcharge on its bills and upping prices starting Tuesday to give its cooks a raise and offset the cost of health care for employees at the pizza restaurant, said owners Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg.

In a letter to their customers, the co-owners explained that the upcoming increase in the tipped minimum wage and the mandate for “employer-supported health insurance” through the Affordable Care Act — both “wonderful things in dozens of ways,” they said — are forcing the changes.

“As of December 1st, Franny’s will be raising our prices in order to give more money to our cooks, who work so hard to bring us all the consistent quality we expect,” the letter read. “We will also be adding a three percent Affordable Care Act surcharge to our checks.”

The ACA requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide coverage to 95 percent or more of their workers by 2016.

Stephens told DNAinfo New York the cost of health care for her employees at Franny's and two other Flatbush Avenue eateries she and her husband own, BKLYN Larder and Rose’s Bar and Grill, will come out to about $200,000 every year.

“That is simply not a cost we can absorb,” she said.

The restaurateurs said the rising cost of living in the city was also a factor in the price change.

“Many of the talented cooks we employ are leaving, choosing to cook elsewhere, because they can’t afford to live in New York,” they wrote.

Pizzas at Franny’s, previously $18, will now be sold for $20, according to a first report by Eater about the pricing changes. Prices on pasta dishes will also rise, though it’s unclear by how much.

Franny's is located at 348 Flatbush Ave.