Bala Cynwyd Biz Will Cut Workers, Hours To Avoid Obamacare Requirements


Some employers say that Obamacare’s new requirements that all Americans have health insurance is too expensive for them to comply with.  The Wall Street Journal reports on one:

Gary Epstein, owner of Firstaff Nursing Services Inc. in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., has similar plans. He intends to stop offering health insurance benefits at his home health-care company.

Mr. Epstein, 52, employs about 250 workers and currently provides health insurance to his 20 office personnel. If he were to start covering the 100 or so nurses and nursing assistants that work full time, his annual health-insurance costs would jump to roughly $600,000 from the current $100,000, he says.

Even if he takes the penalty option, he estimates he would have to pay about $240,000—a cost he doesn’t think his business could absorb. To compensate, he plans to cut the number of hours his nurses and nursing assistants work so they will be considered part-time under the law. He says he will hire more part-timers to ensure patients receive the same level of care.

“We’re going to do everything we can in order to stay in business,” he says.

The Journal adds: “The Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department point to studies that suggest most employers aren’t expected to drop coverage.”