Oct 3 2014
The Wall Street Journal reports that some employers are contemplating reducing their number of full-time employees so they can avoid complying with this requirement. Meanwhile, the Magic Valley Times-News in Idaho reports on how this decision making can play out.
The Wall Street Journal: Bosses Face Affordable Care Act Deadline
A minority of business owners are considering trimming their head counts below the 50 full-time-worker cutoff or reducing their workers' hours rather than comply with the requirement, which begins in January for companies with 100 or more employees. Others have run the numbers and concluded that their best financial move is simply to skip the requirement and instead pay penalties, $2,000 for each full-time worker after the first 30 (Loten and Needleman, 10/1).
Magic Valley Times-News: Workers' Hours Slashed At Twin Falls Schools Because Of Health Care Cost Concerns
The Twin Falls School District has slashed scores of employees' hours amid fears of skyrocketing health-care costs under the Affordable Care Act. Other Magic Valley districts have yet to take that leap, however. The Twin Falls School Board approved the move to slash hours for more than 150 non-professional, or classified, staff after administrators said maintaining work hours would cost the district $1 million. But administrators said the move was necessary to keep cash flowing into the classroom. Under the Affordable Care Act, employees working 30 or more hours in 2015 will be eligible for full insurance benefits in 2016. Employers with 50 or more workers must offer coverage to those averaging at least 30 hours per week, or face fines (Alexander, 10/1).
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 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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