Thanks to Obamacare, ABC stores in Virginia will be cutting their part-time employees' hours. The federal Affordable Care Act is turning out to be anything but affordable as employers scramble to avoid the budget-busting expense of providing all part-time employees, working 30 hours or more, with health insurance.
WRIC-8, an ABC News affiliate, reported on the painful impact on employees, with one single father saying he had been barely making ends meet, but now, he said, "I don't know how I'm going to make it." The state-operated liquor stores aren't the only area being impacted. All state government will be, as all part-time employees' hours are cut back to no more than 29 hours. Hardest hit will be community colleges, which employ more part-time workers crossing the 30-hour threshold than any other state agency.
Opponents of the health care overhaul warned that rather than cover part-time workers health insurance , employers would be forced to cut back their hours--they simply cannot survive as more and more government regulation eats into their profit margin.
The Commonwealth of Virginia is no different that any other employer in this case. Governor Bob McDonnell said Virginia cannot afford the estimated $110 million it would cost to provide part time state workers with health benefits. As a result, those employees will still be without employer-provided health care, and they will be working fewer hours, taking home smaller pay checks.
Governor McDonnell's office released the following statement:
“Virginia is grappling with the same issues that many businesses in the private sector are as they struggle to deal with the costs imposed by the Affordable Care Act.”
