Cubs tarp fiasco a result of ObamaCare?
Forget the Curse of the Billygoat – the spectre of ObamaCare might have embarrassed the Cubs organization just as much as the team’s poor performance on the field. Already running last in the National League Central, the franchise suffered another blow to their ego this week when they allegedly failed to staff enough grounds crew...
Forget the Curse of the Billygoat – the spectre of ObamaCare might have embarrassed the Cubs organization just as much as the team’s poor performance on the field.
Already running last in the National League Central, the franchise suffered another blow to their ego this week when they allegedly failed to staff enough grounds crew members to cover the infield during torrential rain. The game was called off due to poor field conditions.
Some are blaming the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare – and they are probably correct.
Under the law’s employer mandate, employers with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalents are required to offer “qualified and affordable” health-insurance coverage to their employees. This provision of the law was supposed to go into effect Jan. 1, 2014, but was delayed this past summer for one year by the Obama administration and was recently delayed again for another year for those employers with 50-99 full-time or full-time equivalent employees.
Since the law defines “full time” as 30 hours per week, employers whose employees work more than 30 hours could face huge financial penalties. The law contains a “look-back” provision so that, even though the mandate is not yet in effect, hours worked this month would be counted when calculating if the employer will owe a penalty.
The Cubs organization is not alone in the alleged hour-cutting.
There has been growing anecdotal evidence that employers are, indeed, cutting some workers’ hours across the state and nation. In Illinois, three employment sectors fall into both the lowest-paid and lowest work-hours categories: retail trade, food and beverage, and general merchandise. These categories comprise about one-fifth of the state’s total employment. Of these three sectors, all three have average work hours of less than 30 hours per week.
Between 2011 and 2013, Illinois has lost the equivalent of about 63,000 jobs in these sectors through reduced work hours. That is close to the total number of jobs added in all sectors in the state during 2013.
Evidence of the law’s negative effects on small businesses and workers has been piling up as of late. Earlier this week, an employer survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that almost one-fifth of employers will be using a higher proportion of part-time staffers to fulfill their labor needs.
There is no doubt that Chicagoans, Illinoisans and all Americans need affordable and accessible health care. But the public and lawmakers need to better understand that this approach – trading insurance for work – is wrong for Illinois.
While the tarp incident might just seem like another blunder for the North Side’s loveable losers, it raises the more serious issue of how ObamaCare is affecting workers across the state.