ObamaCare Dropping Full-Timers at Schools, Local Governments

Fox Business ^ | July 31, 2013 | By Elizabeth MacDonald

[Jim Robinson]

Health reform is now causing job turmoil across the country in three key groups that the White House has depended on for support—local government, school workers and unions.

School districts in states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Utah, Nebraska, and Indiana are dropping to part-time status school workers such as teacher aides, administrators, secretaries, bus drivers, gym teachers, coaches and cafeteria workers. Cities or counties in states like California, Indiana, Kansas, Texas, Michigan and Iowa are dropping to part-time status government workers such as librarians, secretaries, administrators, parks and recreation officials and public works officials.

This growing trend comes as three major unions have written to Democratic Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid warning that, because health reform is helping to push the work week to below 30 hours, it will “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

The federal law forces employers with at least 50 full-time workers to cover at least 60% of health-care costs for employees who work 30 hours or more per week. The law covers schools and state and local governments.

If they don't offer affordable health insurance, schools and local governments could be fined $2,000 to as much as $3,000 per employee annually. The White House delayed the employer mandate for one year so employers can adjust, which the National School Boards Association (NSBA) applauded, as the mandate will hit schools hard.

[chessplayer]

Unintended? That was part of the goal all along.

[bigheadfred]

Right. They skew the numbers. And McDonald’s is always hiring.

[Graewoulf]

Impeachment File on Benghazi Coward “B. Hussein Obama,” formerly known as Barry Soetoro, currently a Legal Citizen of the Sovereign Nation of Indonesia.

[upchuck]

Intended consequences....single payer. Obama’s mafioso knew this would happen.

Bump!

[kearnyirish2]

“Obama’s mafioso knew this would happen.”

These bastards losing their full-time status ARE that mafia; every one I know voted for him.

[The Antiyuppie]

If the economy was good, if labor was scarce because of higher-paying manufacturing jobs employing hard-working, educated workers sucking it all up, this would NOT be a problem - it would take care of itself, like it did in a good part of the last century. Unfortunately, if some kind of a miracle took place overnight, I would not see that again in my lifetime.

[Thunder90]

The problem is that if you have more than 50 full time equivalent workers, you get fined. This will come to light once the law kicks into effect in 2015. Once it does happen, many people will be fired.

The benefits will be required if
1. you have ANY full time workers And/Or,
2. you have more than 50 FTE workers.

[Tzimisce]

I LOVE it when stupid people have to live with the consequences of their actions. :)

[Go Gordon]

Unintedned consequences: ObamaCare cuts government.

I remember when the government put corporate average fuel standards (CAFE) in place in the late 1980's for passenger vehicles. Excluded from the strict standards set were light trucks. The unintended consequence at that time? Station wagons (considered passenger cars) were discontinued in favor of "sport utility vehicles" (SUVs) which were built on light truck frames. The result? Less overall gas mileage from the general public.

[i_robot73]

At this point they only decided you can be taxed for NOT doing something. It’s not much of a stretch to say you MUST purchase something instead.

Freedom was great, while it lasted.

[Grampa Dave]

Businesses with 50+ employees in Californicator land have been doing this since the first of the year.

Some businesses with a little less than 50 have been doing the same because they feel that ObozoCare would mandate coverage down to a few employees.

Also, more and more healthy young couples and singles have seen their yearly deductibles or the total monthly medical insurance costs soar beyond their budgets. So they are opting to paying doctors cash only for a visit.

ObozoCare needs the young healthy people paying a lot of money for care they don’t need to care for the illegals and others who don’t work. These trends put ObozoCare on even more shaky financial ground.

[Liz]

Only the deranged twisted mind of a progressive could have dreamed up the h'care mess.

As FReeper Lou L wrote: Shows the mess Ohaha created, and why the WH apparatchiks cannot make it work more than three years after its passage.

Each "box" represents huge organizational beauracracies with people stumbling over themselves; each "arrow" represents hundreds and thousands of information requests and transfers. Those interfaces will have some common calls, but they'll have to be customized to fit each carrier's system and customizations. It seems as though a lot is being left off the "health plan" -- all the costs, all the restrictions, have to be passed along as well.

The thousands of "Navigators"---govt-issue clerks--will offer you "guidance/" And that online calculator...does it tell you how much you're being soaked now, rather than before the saving grace of O'care?=======================================================

Amazingly the lower Rube Goldberg chart is supposed to "simplify and explain" O'care......designed by a consultant group paid to assist in the process of getting states to create exchanges (the ones that interface with 60,000 IRS agents, the strongarm HHS, and an assortment of know-nothing snoopy federal agencies).

[lgjhn23]

It just fascinating to watch radical socialist/fascist ideology meet the hard, harsh facts of reality. The “walking dead” (liberals) know no difference. The just follow and gobble up anything that might still be living within the unwashed masses.

[Resolute Conservative]

Just put them all on salary like me. I don’t know what a 20 hour week is, much less a 40 hour week.

[VerySadAmerican]

Are people who work less than 30 hours a week required to buy insurance or get fined?

How does medicare and VA work in obamacare? Is medicare considered the required insurance? Do the vets have “affordable insurance” at the VA?

[Gen.Blather]

“Are people who work less than 30 hours a week required to buy insurance or get fined? How does Medicare and VA work in obamacare? Is Medicare considered the required insurance? Do the vets have “affordable insurance” at the VA?”

My understanding is that EVERYBODY is required to buy insurance. If you can’t afford it you’ll get taxpayer assistance. The IRS example for a family of four on the lowest plan is that the plan will cost them $20,000. I find that estimate breathtaking. I suspect that it’s also low. But a family earning up to $88,000/year will get something on the order of $3,000 assistance. But if they make (estimating) $88,001 they get no assistance.

I can’t answer the other questions. But the plan is to hire thousands upon thousands of helpers who will assist you and answer your questions. The irony is that those helper will not be covered by insurance.

If Obamacare is not defunded by January (unlikely) it will start giving money to probably 80% of the public to buy insurance. At that point defunding or getting rid of the law may be impossible.

[cherokee1]

The short term fix here for companys that actually want to stay in business and have something to sell is to incorporate a second company and rent the facility to it every afternoon. The old company works until noon then everyone punches in to the new company and finishes the day. That would technically produce twice as many jobs, all half time, and Obamuzzie could lie thru his teeth some more about how many jobs he created.

[PastorBooks]

“The short term fix here for companys that actually want to stay in business and have something to sell is to incorporate a second company and rent the facility to it every afternoon.”

A few months ago they announced that the 50-worker limit applies to *all* businesses owned by the same individuals. They are going to total all the workers of all the businesses together. So if a business owner owns two companies, and both companies have 25 workers, then he has 50 total employees under O-care. No joke.

The rule will include any business owned by a “few” people. The nightmare will be if there is a partnership where one of the partners owns different businesses than the other co-owners. All of their respective employees will be added together.