The House Ways and Means Committee will mark up two bills today that would alter Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provisions concerning employer-based health insurance.
The first bill is the Save American Workers Act, sponsored by Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.). The legislation would change the PPACA definition of full-time employees, increasing the threshold from 30 hours per week to 40 hours. The PPACA requires employers to offer health plans if they have more than 50 full-time employees.
Mr. Young has said the current definition of full-time employment drives companies to reduce their workers' hours to less than 30 per week to ensure they fall short of the threshold of 50 full-time employees, according to a report from The Hill.
The second bill — sponsored by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) — would get rid of the healthcare reform law's definition of emergency services volunteers as employees who must be offered health insurance. Mr. Barletta has said many towns aren't prepared for the additional expense of providing volunteer firefighters with health insurance, according to the report. The National Volunteer Fire Council has backed the bill, agreeing that municipalities don't have the necessary resources and volunteers don't expect benefits.
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