"Win-Win" Situation for Employers to Not Offer Healthcare to Part-Time Employees; Now Ain't That Special?

The peculiarities of Obamcare keep piling up. Here's the latest: Wegmans, a Rochester-based grocery store has decided to do something beneficial for its part-time employees, stop health care insurance.

The reason? Employers and employees alike are better off if the employer does not offer health-care benefits to part-time employees.

Please consider Wegmans cuts health benefits for part-time workers.

Et tu, Wegmans?

The Rochester-based grocer that has been continually lauded for providing health insurance to its part-time workers will no longer offer that benefit.

The company said the decision was related to changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act.

Part-time employees may actually benefit from Wegmans’ decision, according to Brian Murphy, a partner at Lawley Benefits Group, an insurance brokerage firm in Buffalo.

“If you have an employee that qualifies for subsidized coverage, they might be better off going with that than a limited part-time benefit,” Murphy said.

That’s because subsidized coverage can have a lower out-of-pocket cost for the insured employee while also providing better benefits than an employer-paid plan.

Under the Affordable Care Act, part-time employees are not eligible for health insurance subsidies if their employer offers insurance.

“It’s a win-win. The employee gets subsidized coverage, and the employer gets to lower costs,” Murphy said.

Wegmans employs roughly 1,433 full-time employees and 4,304 part-time employees in the Buffalo Niagara region.

Now Ain't That Special?

Part-timers are better off with no company health-care offering than with one. Fancy that. Now just imagine the temptation for employers to reduce someone from 32 hours (considered part-time before Obamacare) to 29 hours or 25 hours because the Obamacare definition sets the definition of part-time at 30 hours.

That's pretty special too, and I have just the tribute to offer.



Link if video does not play: Church Lady Chat With Hillary Clinton

The Obamcare effect is real. The distortions are complicated, numerous, and not widely understood.

Obamacare Economic Distortion Synopsis

• October 10, 2012: Prepping for Obamacare, Olive Garden and Red Lobster Cut Workers' Hours; Are Other Companies Doing the same?
• October 20, 2012: Mish Obamacare Mailbag: Expect More Part-Time Jobs
• February 02, 2013: Obamacare in Action: Retail Workweek Hits 3-Year Low
• February 19, 2013: Opting Out of Obamacare (the Unaffordable Health Care Act); Not Even Labor Unions Want It
• May 3, 2013: Obamacare Affects Part-Time Employment Yet Again; Nullification Bill Passes South Carolina House; Analysis of Healthcare Penalty Rates
• May 20, 2013: Obamacare Premiums 47% Higher But Deductibles 27% Lower Than Grandfathered Health Plans; Obamacare Lies
• June 21, 2013: Obamacare Effects Hit Local Governments, Small Businesses, Temp Staffing Agencies; Chicago Dumps Retirees Into Obamacare
• July 8, 2013: Trends in Full and Part-Time Employment; Obamacare Job Double Counting and Other Economic Distortions

For more on Obamacare Economic Distortions, please peruse the above links to your heart's content.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com