House Ways and Means Committee Member Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) said during a hearing on Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate has had a “devastating” impact on businesses, even though its been delayed for a year.
The employer mandate, which requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance to those who work more than 30 hours a week, was delayed by the Obama Administration until 2015.
“This rule’s impacts can be devastating for families and limiting for small businesses’ ability to hire and grow,” Tiberi said. “Right now is the time businesses are making decisions about what they’ll do next year when the delay is over and the rule goes into effect…”
Tiberi has cosponsored the Save American Workers Act, which would repeal the 30-hour standard of full-time employment in the ACA and replace it with the 40-hour standard.
Approximately 2.6 million Americans who earn less than $30,000 a year are at risk of having hours and wages cut because of the 30-hour full-time standard, according to the Hoover Institution.
“…Columbus State Community College has limited their hourly staff and adjunct faculty to less than 30 hours per week,” Tiberi said. “Ohio companies, like White Castle, have said this rule is affecting their hiring. It’s not just employers being hurt. I’ve heard from folks in my district whose hours are being cut resulting in a lower income and in some instances, causing them to no longer be able to afford their rent or mortgage.”