Affordable Care Act: part-time employee kinks

Every citizen has access to quality health care—What a beautiful idea! Regardless of someone's income or situation, they have the same ability to receive quality health care.

I don't think anyone with half a heart would argue that people should NOT be allowed health care because of economic status. We're all on the same page as far as theoretical and moral benefits. 

We all agree it's a good idea in theory.

There are some really great advantages to this act:

Just a few include the fact that it Ends pre-existing condition exclusions. Huzzah! Everyone's happy about that, right?

And it Keeps young adults covered. I can stay on my parent's plan until I'm 26. That gives lots of young adults, like myself, the chance to get on their feet career-wise before having to pay for insurance.

It also Cuts costs for a lot of people who may otherwise not be able to afford health insurance (at least theoretically). 

And it Ensures that employers provide health benefits for their employees. 

There are so many controversial elements to this law that both positively and negatively affect many people, but in the employer clause is
Where I personally have seen the most direct effects and disadvantages:

In trying to implement this nice idea that every employee is covered, the employers are having a hard time finding the money to do so. Because they don't have to provide coverage for part-time employees, they are taking extra precautions to make sure part-time employees don’t work anywhere close to the full-time limit. So as a student employee on my campus, I can only work a MAXIMUM of 20 hours a week. I could have 3 different jobs, but combined I cannot work past 20 hours, or I will be fired from all three.

I’m not asking the university to cover my insurance. Quite frankly, I don’t really care right now if I have any (nor do most of my contemporaries), but I do care about my income—especially working only part-time—and the annoyance it is to be so restricted in my ability to work.

I’ve noticed many part-time faculty members are experiencing similar frustrations. They cannot even be in the building, working “off the clock,” or volunteering in any capacity on campus past X amount of hours a week. There’s another clause in the Affordable Care Act that says to go from full-time to part-time position, you must have a period of retirement. One of the head dance directors at my school had to cast and direct a show months in advance so that she could (begrudgingly) take the allotted time “in retirement.”

While the Affordable Care Act is a truly wonderful idea, I think the specificity of restrictions in practice has created some unforeseen disadvantages and unintentional, annoying consequences that should probably be addressed (if only to improve the current low approval rating of the act)

There’s a comprehensive plan that’ll be rolled out over four years, so maybe they’ll have ironed out some of these kinks by then…!

• If you are interested in reading the whole law click HERE