Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Eau Claire Area School District in Wisconsin is debating the merits of extending full healthcare coverage to its part-time employees, or withdrawing the proportional coverage it offers those employees now. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers are not able to pro-rate coverage costs for employees working under 30-hours per week, and those working over 30-hours per week would automatically be eligible for the coverage offered to full-time employees. Consultants hired by the district testified that the added cost of the district covering all employees for the same amount without discriminating based on the number of hours the employee worked would lead to a substantial increase in district costs. The district had not been tracking which employees were covered for how much insurance, however, and so withdrawing the coverage from all part-time employees could cause the district to face over $2 million in fines. A vote on the decision is scheduled for March 24th.