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ObamaCare 2.0: Same Old Headaches for Nation's Classrooms

The second year of the ObamaCare open enrollment season has begun and Americans are more displeased than ever with the president’s health care law. Schools, in particular, continue to feel the law’s negative effects, from increased costs to diminished services. In Louisiana, administrators are being forced to cut staff hours to keep their schools afloat and their students in the classroom:


Worries about running afoul of the Affordable Care Act — also known as “Obamacare” — have forced officials in Ascension Parish to turn the hunt for substitute teachers to a staffing agency to track hours and avoid federal penalties ... "This is really, really a major concern,” said Scott Richard, executive director of the Louisiana School Boards Association.

The uproar in education circles, as well as other industries nationwide, stems from a part of the law that requires employers to offer health insurance coverage to part-time workers who are employed 30 hours or more per week, or face federal fines of up to $2,000 per person. Superintendents said such coverage is a huge expense for school districts still reeling from five years of a near freeze in state aid for public schools. “Given the cost of benefits, that would be an unbelievable drain on school systems,” [superintendent, Ascension Parish school system] Pujol said.
– The Advocate, ObamaCare Forces Louisiana Public Schools to Scramble for Substitute Teachers


In New Jersey, school districts are even being forced to outsource their substitute teaching:


A school district in New Jersey is planning to outsource substitute teachers in an effort to counter rising costs of the Affordable Care Act. Roanoke City Public Schools in January will start using the New Jersey-based company Source4Teachers to supply it with substitute teachers, substitute aides and substitute clerical workers … Officials said they began research into the outsourcing option due to the Obamacare mandate that, as of Jan. 1, employees working an average of 30 hours or more a week must be offered health insurance.
– Newsmax, Obamacare Costs Push NJ School System to Outsource Sub Teachers


As has been said time and again, the nation’s students and teachers deserve better. That’s why the House passed with bipartisan support the Save American Workers Act (H.R. 2575), legislation to restore the 40-hour work week. Another proposal would simply exempt schools from the employer mandate, providing relief from one of the law’s most onerous mandates.

As the committee continues to fight for commonsense health care solutions and investigate the challenges facing schools as a result of the president’s fatally-flawed law, please share #YourStory by visiting www.republicans-edlabor.house.gov/YourStory or e-mailing us at TellYourStory@mail.house.gov.


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