Health News
Low-income workers received a potentially devastating blow when the US Supreme Court decided to strike down the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalizing states that do not expand access to Medicaid to families earning up to 133% of the poverty line. Unless states voluntarily expand Medicaid, many low-income workers will be left to shoulder the cost of mandated insurance on their own because few are likely to be covered through their employer.
According to the administrative rules for the ACA, employers (with 50 or more employees) have to pay a ?shared responsibility fee? only when they neglect to cover full-time employees. Under this new law, full-time employees are defined as those who average 30 or more hours per week, and employers are granted ample leeway in defining the time period on which eligibility is based. Research I?ve conducted in several industries indicates that work hours in today?s hourly jobs are often scarce, with many workers expressing a preference for additional hours of work for additional pay. Because employers condition access to benefits on job status and hours worked, hourly workers, especially part-time workers, are often excluded from company-sponsored health insurance. The ACA is unlikely to do much to extend employer-sponsored coverage to hourly workers and may even heighten their risk of poverty given the incentive to employers to keep work hours below 30 a week.
Let?s make sure the Affordable Care Act lives up to its name by encouraging Governor Quinn and our legislators to voluntarily expand Medicaid. Because the federal government will pick up over 90% of the tab for the expansion, it makes good fiscal sense for both Illinois taxpayers and Illinois families.
Susan Lambert
Associate Professor
School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago
(Portions of this letter were published in the Chicago Tribune, July 6 Voice of the People here)
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Health News
Let?s Make Sure the Affordable Care Act Lives Up to Its Name
Low-income workers received a potentially devastating blow when the US Supreme Court decided to strike down the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalizing states that do not expand access to Medicaid to families earning up to 133% of the poverty line. Unless states voluntarily expand Medicaid, many low-income workers will be left to shoulder the cost of mandated insurance on their own because few are likely to be covered through their employer.
According to the administrative rules for the ACA, employers (with 50 or more employees) have to pay a ?shared responsibility fee? only when they neglect to cover full-time employees. Under this new law, full-time employees are defined as those who average 30 or more hours per week, and employers are granted ample leeway in defining the time period on which eligibility is based. Research I?ve conducted in several industries indicates that work hours in today?s hourly jobs are often scarce, with many workers expressing a preference for additional hours of work for additional pay. Because employers condition access to benefits on job status and hours worked, hourly workers, especially part-time workers, are often excluded from company-sponsored health insurance. The ACA is unlikely to do much to extend employer-sponsored coverage to hourly workers and may even heighten their risk of poverty given the incentive to employers to keep work hours below 30 a week.
Let?s make sure the Affordable Care Act lives up to its name by encouraging Governor Quinn and our legislators to voluntarily expand Medicaid. Because the federal government will pick up over 90% of the tab for the expansion, it makes good fiscal sense for both Illinois taxpayers and Illinois families.
Susan Lambert
Associate Professor
School of Social Service Administration
University of Chicago
(Portions of this letter were published in the Chicago Tribune, July 6 Voice of the People here)
- Obamacare's Employer Mandate Poses Challenges For Schools
While Kentucky public-school employees get their health insurance through the state?s self-funded program and don't have to worry too much about how federal health reform may affect them, their employers do, Madelynn Coldiron points out in the November...
- Employer-sponsored Health Insurance Staying Steady
Rates of employer-sponsored healthcare have not declined since the implementation of the ACA, according to Fredric Blavin, a Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute?s Health Policy Center. These findings, published in the January 2015 issue of...
- Illinois Entrepreneurs And Small Business Need Shop Employee Choice
Illinois is one of 18 states recently granted a delay by the Department of Health and Human Services for the employee choice feature of the small business health options program marketplace, or SHOP. But what exactly is employee choice, and why is this...
- Aca: More Than Just Healthcare For People With Disabilities
For people with disabilities finding a job has always been a one-two punch. It's not just the salary and financial independence they're looking for; they also are in greater need of health benefits than say, a nondisabled 30-year old. October...
- Health Reform Will Help Small Businesses In Illinois
Did you know that almost 8 out of 10 small businesses in Illinois with 25 or fewer workers will receive financial relief because of the Affordable Care Act? If you want to see if your small business qualifies, check out the Small Business Majority's...