Kentucky Businesses Adapt To Health Care Act

An official with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce says the new Affordable Care Act will hurt the ability of state residents to find full-time jobs.

Ashley Watts is the chamber’s health policy analyst. Watts says business owners around the Commonwealth have told her that they are not hiring full-time workers so they can avoid having to buy health insurance for those individuals.

“We’ve been hearing businesses are going to start trimming hours to make sure that they’re under that thirty hour a week limit. You know, they might not be hiring as much as they would previously before the Affordable Care Act, hiring more part-time workers, possibly hiring seasonal employees that would not be counted into that number. I think businesses are starting to get creative to figure out how to get around this new law.” –Ashley Watts

Watts says the Kentucky Chamber doesn’t support the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, but under the circumstances, the state’s decision to offer a health insurance exchange is the best option for the Commonwealth’s businesses.