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with Obamacare Loophole The American Interest When the Affordable Care Act passed in early 2010, many in academia--faculty and students alike--cheered on. But now that its provisions are going into effect, some of these same people are learning firsthand that Obamacare has some nasty side effects. A new piece in the Wall Street Journal reports that many colleges are cutting back on the number of hours worked by adjunct professors, in order to avoid new requirements that they provide healthcare to anyone working over 30 hours per week. This is terrible news for a lot of people; 70 percent of professors work as adjuncts and many will now have to cope with a major pay cut just as requirements that they buy their own health insurance go into effect: In Ohio, instructor Robert Balla faces a new cap on the number of hours he can teach at Stark State College. In a Dec. 6 letter, the North Canton school told him that "in order to avoid penalties under the Affordable Care Act... employees with part-time or adjunct status will not be assigned more than an average of 29 hours per week." Mr. Balla, a 41-year-old father of two, had taught seven English composition classes last semester, split between Stark State and two other area schools. This semester, his course load at Stark State is down to one instead of two as a result of the school's new limit on hours, cutting his salary by about a total of $2,000. Stark State's move came as a blow to Mr. Balla, who said he earns about $40,000 a year and cannot afford health insurance. "I think it goes against the spirit of the [health-care] law," Mr. Balla said. "In education, we're working for the public good, we are public employees at a public institution; we should be the first ones to uphold the law, to set the example." This isn't the first time we've seen serious unintended consequences from Obamacare, and it's unlikely to be the last. It's already become painfully obvious that the law's creators failed to think through its full implications. READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 01/20/2013 Editor's Note: Progressives not thinking through the implications of their actions? Stop it! Really?!... The BasicsProject.org informational and educational pamphlet series is now available for Kindle and iPad. Click here to find out more... The New Media Journal and BasicsProject.org are not funded by outside sources. We exist exclusively on tax deductible donations from our readers and contributors. Please make a tax deductible donation today.
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