Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has long offered health insurance benefits to its part-time employees. But workers may be surprised to learn they’re no longer eligible for the company’s health insurance thanks to Obamacare.
According to The Buffalo News, the Affordable Care Act has brought about changes in the company’s policy, requiring the supermarket giant to provide insurance only to employees working 30 hours or more per week. Prior to the law’s passage, the company provided health insurance to employees working 20 hours or more each week.
Though the company would not comment on the insurance changes, several employees confirmed the alterations were a result of Obamacare.
“As a private company, we don’t share specifics of our employee benefits programs. It’s a given that health care reform will result in some changes to our benefits program, but it will not change our commitment to meeting the needs of our employees,” Wegmans said in a statement.
The Affordable Care Act has had several negative effects on companies, causing some to cap employee hours at less than 30 per week to avoid being forced to provide insurance.
But Brian Murphy, a partner at an insurance brokerage firm in Buffalo, told The Buffalo News he thinks part-time employees could personally stand to benefit from switching to government-provided insurance.
“If you have an employee that qualifies for subsidized coverage, they might be better off going with that than a limited part-time benefit,” Murphy said.
The Rochester-based grocery chain has 81 stores and employees roughly 1,433 full-time and 4,304 part-time workers in that region alone. Stores are located in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Wegmans ranked in the top five of Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for.
Insurance exchanges will launch Oct. 1 when the Affordable Care Act is implemented, provided the implementation date is not delayed.
h/t Mike Danylak
