Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

Classifieds/Jobs/Office Space : Experts/Services : MCLE : Search : Logout Questions and Comments WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY MONDAY TODAY SEARCH/BACK to search results William Diedrich is a partner at Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo PLC. He can be reached at wdiedrich@aalrr.com. Todd M. Robbins is an associate at Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo PLC. He can be reached at trobbins@aalrr.com. This is the prop ert y of the Dail y Journal Corporation and ful ly prote cted by c opyr ight. It is made av ailab le on ly t o Daily Journal subscr iber s for personal or collaborative purposes and may not be distributed, reproduced, modified, stored or transferred without written permission. Please click “Reprint” to order presentation-ready copies to distribute to clients or use in commercial marketing materials or for permission to post on a website. Tu esd ay , J ul y 2, 20 13 As the J an. 1, 2014 , deadlin e approaches for full implementation of many of the reform s included in the P atient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), there has been much discussion about the impact ACA has on indiv iduals and on small business employers. The potent ial crippling financial effects of ACA on public sector employers, specifically school districts, seem to have gone unnoticed. Under th e ACA, large employers - those with 50 or more full-time employees - are required to offer full-time employ ees affordable health care that provides minim um essential coverage and minim um value. The vast majorit y of the nearly 1,000 school districts in California have at least 50 full-time employees. Coverage offered by employers is considered "affordable" if the cost for individual coverage does not exceed 9.5 percent of an employee's household income. These requirem ents go into effect on J an. 1, 2014. A full-time employee under the ACA is an employee who works an average of 30 hours per week during a relevant measurement period. Employers have the option of using a period of between three and 12 months to measure the hours of each employee to determine full-time status. If an employee is or becomes full-time, the employer must offer benefits to that employee for a time following the measurement period. The fi rst maj or im pact fo r sch oo l d ist r ic ts a ri ses fr om t hi s measur em ent of fu ll -t im e status. School districts use substitute employees to replace teachers or support staff who are temporarily absent from duty. Substitutes are typically paid at a lower rate and are not provided health and welfare benefits. As a general rule, substitute employees serve on a day-to-day basis and are not guaranteed an assignment from one day to the next. School districts have historically used high-performing substitutes to fill in for teachers on long-term leaves of absence. It is not unusual for these so-called long-term substitutes to work most, if not all, of a school year in one classroom. This practice helps provide for continuity in the educational program of the students whose regular teacher is absent from duty. Upon the return of the regular teacher, the long-term substitute returns to serving as a substitute for any absent teacher on a day-to-day basis. As a re su l t o f t he A CA, s chool distr ic ts may be forced to limit sub stitute opportunities and forgo a major operation al benefit to school s. Bookmark Reprints Dail y Journ al - Cal if or ni a' s Large st Lega l News Pro vi de r htt p: // www.d ail yjo ur na l.com/s ub scr ibe r/S ub Ma in.cfm?s hCenF ile Name... 1 of 3 7/2/2013 7:03 AM

Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

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Transcript of Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

￼￼￼￼Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

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Transcript of ￼￼￼￼Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools

Transcript of Health care provisions set to take effect Jan. 1 to impact public schools