Trader Joe’s Has an Obamacare Poblem

Trader Joe’s Has an Obamacare Poblem         

For years, Trader Joe’s has offered health care coverage to its part-time employees at reasonable prices. No more. The company is cutting health care benefits for anyone working fewer than 30 hours a week, according to a confidential memo sent to many employees on August 30.

“With low-wage workers eligible for tax subsidies to buy health insurance next year, the company has apparently calculated that offering medical coverage to part-timers who work 18 hours or more is no longer worth the cost,” the Huffington Post reports.

Obamacare’s employer mandate penalizes employers that do not provide the government-dictated level of insurance to their employees, and business owners can avoid the penalty if they have fewer than 50 full-time employees or if their employees work less than 30 hours a week.

If that 30 hour threshold is starting to sound familiar, it’s because Trader Joe’s decision reflects a trend. An independent study by Investor’s Business Daily, broken down by state, proves more than 250 employers have cut work hours or jobs or taken other steps to avoid Obamacare costs already.

According to Huffington Post, Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane is hoping to soften the blow by promising employees the company will “cut part-timers a check for $500 in January and help guide them toward finding a new plan under the Affordable Care Act.”

A current Trader Joe’s employee told Huffington Post the coverage she’ll lose is one of the best parts of her job. She said several of her co-workers, especially those with young families, are there for the insurance as much as anything else.

“I can say that when I opened and read the letter yesterday my reaction was pure panic, followed quickly by anger,” she said.

For the many Trader Joe’s employees who are on the cusp of 30 hours, “the memo left little hope that they can pack in extra hours to meet the requirement,” according to the report.

We need to defund Obamacare so that we can start over on health care reform, without eliminating the good options that already exist.