The House passed legislation this afternoon revising the Affordable Care Act’s definition of full-time employment to 40 hours a week. The vote was 248-179, with 18 Democrats supporting the bill.
The measure, offered by Indiana Republican Todd Young, would narrow a requirement for employers to offer health coverage to their workers. Qualifying workers would include only those working at least 40 hours a week instead of the current 30 hours.
Supporters of the bill say it would remove a disincentive for businesses to cut workers’ hours below 30, while opponents argue that it would simply shift the threshold and leave more people without insurance.
According to the CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation, the change would cause 1 million fewer people to receive employer-sponsored health coverage and send between 500,000 and 1 million more people to Medicaid, CHIP or the ACA insurance marketplaces. They also project it would increase budget deficits by $73.7 billion over 10 years.
By some counts, today’s vote is the 57th time the House has voted to change or repeal parts or all of the ACA. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t likely to bring it to the floor in that chamber.
View H.R. 2575 here.