Report: Trader Joe's to drop health coverage for part-time workers

by Elise Viebeck

By Elise Viebeck - 09/11/13 02:09 PM ET

Specialty grocery chain Trader Joe's will no longer provide healthcare coverage to part-time workers and instead point them toward ObamaCare's new insurance exchanges, according to a report.

The company, which provides some of the most generous worker benefits in the industry, told staff last month that those working 30 hours or less per week will no longer be eligible for healthcare coverage.

Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane reportedly promised part-time workers a $500 check next year and help understanding their new coverage options under ObamaCare.

"We believe that with the $500 from Trader Joe's and the tax credits available under the [Affordable Care Act], many of you should be able to obtain health care coverage at very little if any net cost to you," Bane wrote in a staff memo dated Aug. 30.

Under the Affordable Care Act, individuals making up to $45,960 (or $94,200 for a family of four) will be eligible for tax subsidies to help make healthcare coverage more affordable.

Buying non-employer coverage will take place on ObamaCare's new insurance exchanges, which will open for enrollment Oct. 1 and allow consumers to comparison shop for healthcare plans that suit their needs.

Supporters of the law say the new system will help low-income workers and offer affordable options.

But announcements like the one from Trader Joe's fuel criticism of the law from those who believe it will encourage companies to drop employee healthcare benefits and shift workers into the new exchanges.

Trader Joe's is not the first grocery chain to make this move. Wegmans supermarketsreportedly cut health coverage for part-time workers earlier this year.

Employers will be required to offer healthcare coverage to workers that put in 30 hours or more per week starting in 2015.

Report: Trader Joe's to drop health coverage for part-time workers
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/321663-report-trader-joes-to-drop-health-coverage-for-some-workers-under-obamacare

John Hames

Comments

Daily on Defense: Zelensky cites new phase of war, poll shows strong support for Ukraine, Truce ends in Gaza, Tuberville targets woke officers

Follow us on Twitter View this as website BY JAMIE MCINTYRE ADVERTISEMENT ZELENSKY: 'WE DID NOT ACHIEVE THE DESIRED RESULTS': I n a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press, conducted Thursday in the war-ravaged northeastern Ukrainian town of Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky offered a sobering assessment of the shortcomings of Ukraine's summer counteroffensive against Russian forces, while remaining resolute about the need to keep fighting. "We wanted faster results. From that perspective, unfortunately, we did not achieve the desired results. And this is a fact," Zelensky said. "We are losing people, I'm not satisfied. We didn't get all the weapons we

Daily on Defense: Border deal DOA, Ukraine aid in peril, Blinken back in Mideast, retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria, McKenzie’s advice to Biden

Follow us on Twitter View this as website BY JAMIE MCINTYRE ADVERTISEMENT FROM 'CATCH AND RELEASE' TO 'DETAIN AND DEPORT': After months of hard-nosed negotiation behind closed doors in the Senate, the text of a compromise $118 billion national security supplemental budget bill, which includes major concessions from the Democrats on border security and desperately needed aid for Ukraine, was released last night. Senators now have two days to read and digest it before a Wednesday vote. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), the lead GOP negotiator, said the bill contains all the most vital reforms Republicans have demanded and called it a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to close our open border." "The bill provides funding to build the wall, increase technology at the border, and add more detention beds, more agents, and more deportation flights. The border security bil

Horror: Watch a Mother describe how California stole her daughter, transitioned her, and caused her death

Ivanka Trump ordered dropped from New York case and the libs are furious ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ Horror: Watch a Mother describe how California stole her daughter, transitioned her, and caused her death Read Story Ivanka Trump ordered dropped from New York case and the libs are furious Read Story ADVERTISEMENT Writer gets whipped for complaining that new Indiana Jones flick doesn't discuss why Nazis are bad Read Story

Search This Blog