Schools in Indiana Have to Decide Between Insurance for Part Timers or Reduce Working Hours

Under the federal health care mandate, employers have to cover employees with health covers – to avoid doing this; these schools are cutting back the working hours of teacher assistants, bus drivers and cafeteria workers. "We cannot go out and raise the price of our product to assist us covering this. We would have to go the taxpayers and ask for some type of increase and I just don't see that happening," said Les Huddle, superintendent of the Lafayette School Corporation, where more than 150 of the schools approximately 600 non-certified employees have had their hours reduced to meet the federal definition of part-time.

About 100 instructional aides, and substitute teachers, bus drivers and coaches of Shelbyville Central School System, face the same issue. As under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, employers have to offer insurance cover to 50 or more employees working full time or 30 hours a week, or pay penalty.

Executive Director – Dennis Costerison – of the Indiana Association of Business Officials, said that the schools received funding from the state, but complying with the health law would be a big issue.

"What I'm seeing across the state does school districts, unfortunately, have to reduce the hours that they're having some of their folks work, primarily so they don't have to worry about the penalties, or they don't have to provide them health insurance, which would be very, very costly," Costerison said. Some schools, like the Indianapolis Public School System, are still studying the issue.

References:

Hannah Punitha (IRDA Licence Number: 2710062)

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Maureen Groppe, June 2013

Source-Medindia