Remember when Hillary Clinton said that Obamacare incentivizes part-time employment, and that this needed to be changed? I do. It was in Iowa City On December 16, 2015. In short, someone might say that’s a tacit acknowledgment that President Obama’s new health care law is bad for workers.
QUESTIONER: “Hi, I just want to know why there is discrimination against the part-time workers when so many companies are going to part-time when it comes to FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act]?”HILLARY CLINTON: “Well, that’s why they are going to part-time. That, and also, the Affordable Care Act. You know, we got to change that because we have built in some unfortunate incentives that discourage full-time employment. A lot of employers believe if you don’t work 40-hours a week you don’t get benefits and that includes; you don’t get health care benefits; that might include you’re not eligible for the family medical leave; you’re not eligible for paid sick days. So, there is a disincentive in our system that we need to deal with and I really worry about it because there is trend to try and move more and more people into part-time work; and how many of you are part-time workers? And sometimes you want to work part-time, it fits into your family, it fits into your life obligations but sometimes you want to work full-time but you can’t get a full-time job. So, I want to look at all the employment rules.
Now, a Goldman Sachs survey said that hundreds of thousands of workers have been forced into part-time work or had their hours cut (via Washington Examiner):
Obamacare is forcing hundreds of thousands of people into part-time work, according to a new analysis from the bank Goldman Sachs.In a research note sent out Wednesday, bank economist Alec Phillips concluded that "the evidence suggests that the [Affordable Care Act] has at least modestly elevated involuntary part-time employment." He wrote that a "few hundred thousand" workers may have had their hours cut or been forced to take part-time jobs because of the law.
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Obamacare is thought to incentivize part-time work through several means. One is that employers with more than 50 full-time workers face penalties if they do not provide health insurance coverage, giving them a reason to cut hours or avoid hiring new workers if they are near the 50 employee level.
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As a share of the total 6.4 million people forced into part-time work, a few hundred thousand is not that many, Phillips noted. But that number could help explain why involuntary part-time work is still as elevated as it is this late in the jobs recovery.
May was the worst jobs report we’ve had in five years. Concerning Obamacare, it remains unpopular, Americans are opting to pay the penalty to remain uninsured because it is cheaper, health care providers are leaving markets due to the massive losses they’ve accrued, and the last remaining co-ops are hanging by a thread.
Sounds like it’s working, right? I’m kidding of course.
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