Obamacare Legacy: NYT: Cities, Counties, Schools Cutting Hours | Denver Post: Young Avoid Coverage

Editorial Cartoon by AF Branco

  Another day, another slate of stories about the problems Obamacare is causing for Americans.

The New York Times writes, “Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, state and local officials say. . . . President Obama has twice delayed enforcement of the health care law’s employer mandate, which would subject larger employers to tax penalties if they do not offer insurance coverage to employees who work at least 30 hours a week, on average. But many public employers have already adopted policies, laws or regulations to make sure workers stay under that threshold. Even after the administration said this month that it would ease coverage requirements for larger employers, public employers generally said they were keeping the restrictions on work hours because their obligation to provide health insurance, starting in 2015, would be based on hours worked by employees this year. Among those whose hours have been restricted in recent months are police dispatchers, prison guards, substitute teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches, school custodians, cafeteria workers and part-time professors. Mark D. Benigni, the superintendent of schools in Meriden, Conn., and a board member of the American Association of School Administrators, said in an interview that the new health care law was having ‘unintended consequences for school systems across the nation.’”

The Times looks at how this is playing out in several states. “In Connecticut, as in many states, significant numbers of part-time school employees work more than 30 hours a week and do not receive health benefits. ‘Are we supposed to lay off full-time teachers so that we can provide insurance coverage to part-time employees?’ Mr. Benigni asked. ‘If I had to cut five reading teachers to pay for benefits for substitute teachers, I’m not sure that would be best for our students.’ In Medina, Ohio, about 30 miles south of Cleveland, Mayor Dennis Hanwell said the city had lowered the limit for part-time employees to 29 hours a week, from 35. Workers’ wages were reduced accordingly, he said. ‘Our choice was to cut the hours or give them health care, and we could not afford the latter,’ Mr. Hanwell, a Republican, said. . . . Lawrence County, in western Pennsylvania, reduced the limit for part-time employees to 28 hours a week, from 32. Dan Vogler, the Republican chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said the cuts affected prison guards and emergency service personnel at the county’s 911 call center. In Virginia, part-time state employees are generally not allowed to work more than 29 hours a week on average over a 12-month period. Thousands of part-time state employees had been working more than that, according to the state personnel agency. Virginia officials said they could not extend coverage to part-time wage workers because of the expense. . . . William J. Lipkin, an adjunct professor of American history and political science at Union County College in Cranford, N.J., said: ‘The Affordable Care Act, rather than making health care affordable for adjunct faculty members, is making it more unaffordable. Colleges are not giving us access to health care, and our hours are being cut, which means our income is being cut. We are losing on both ends.’ . . . The University of Akron, in Ohio, has cut back the hours of 400 part-time faculty members who were teaching more than 29 hours a week, said Eileen Korey, a spokeswoman for the school. ‘We have more than 1,000 part-time faculty,’ Ms. Korey said. ‘Four hundred would have qualified for health insurance. That would add costs that we cannot afford.’”

For good measure, The Times points out, “For months, Obama administration officials have played down reports that employers were limiting workers’ hours. But in a report this month, the Congressional Budget Office said the Affordable Care Act could lead to a reduction in the number of hours worked, relative to what would otherwise occur.” And just this week in Florida, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claimed, “There is absolutely no evidence -- and every economist will tell you this -- that there is any job loss related to the Affordable Care Act.”

Meanwhile, The Denver Post reports that Obamacare continues to be a bad deal for many, especially young Americans, whom Democrats are imploring to sign up so costs don’t go up even more than they already have. “Matt Leising spends about $3,600 a year on medication to treat asthma and sinus problems, so he was supportive when Washington politicians were debating the Affordable Care Act. After the law passed and then began rolling out last fall, Leising went to Colorado's health care exchange website to look for coverage, but the 29-year-old Littleton resident quickly realized he couldn't afford any of the plans. The lowest monthly premium was $175, but the deductible was $10,000, meaning he would still have to pay for his medication and other expenses. He decided to just pay for his medication out of pocket and take the $95 tax penalty for a single person. ‘How could a young person nowadays afford it?’ asked Leising, the manager of a small business that doesn't provide health insurance. ‘I don't see how anyone in my age group can afford insurance unless they have a really good job.’ The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 40 percent of people ages 18 to 34 need to sign up for health insurance to defray the costs of coverage for older, sicker people, but so far those figures in Colorado and nationally are half that number. . . . About 30 percent of Colorado exchange users are 55 to 64 years old — the oldest group of people before Medicare kicks in. Census figures show that age group is about 12 percent of the Colorado population, so older people are signing up at nearly three times the size of their population.”

The Post notes, “27-year-old Fort Collins resident Sarah Hardin would rather save the money and pay out of pocket for treatment than spend the roughly $800 a month she said it would cost to cover her and her husband. ‘When we're not paying anything now, anything is a significant jump,’ said Hardin, who owns a hair salon and makes too much to qualify for a subsidy. ‘Paying anything monthly is a lot.’ Hardin doesn't like that the Affordable Care Act is shifting costs onto young, healthy people to subsidize care for older and sicker people. ‘They would have young people paying more for insurance and people don't want to pay into the system,’ she said. ‘They're not going to want to do that.’ Hardin said the only way she and her husband would buy health insurance is if the federal tax penalty is more than the annual costs of the policy. . . . The penalty ‘would have to be pretty significant,’ she said. ‘Most of my network connections and friends or colleagues pretty much feel the same way.’ . . . Leising said he is disappointed that the law isn't providing him with affordable coverage. ‘It didn't work out,’ he said. ‘I think I was naive, but I was younger then. I thought they were going to work out the problems, but no one seems to be addressing them.’”

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