A snapshot of the Affordable Care Act and what it implies to Batesville schools was introduced at the Batesville school board meeting. Supt. Dr. Jim Roberts told the board Monday that the Act applies to any employer with 50 fulltime employees. Fulltime is at least 30 hours per week. Affordable coverage must be offered to those, or corporations face a penalty. A lot of the cost comes from the requirement to offer coverage to those with 30 hours. They may choose to cut hours to avoid penalty fees, or as Roberts said: “We have not found ourselves to be in bad shape with that 30 hour piece. We actually offer insurance to those who have 20 plus hours since I’ve been in this organization.” Penalties have been dubbed, the “sledge-hammer” and the “mallet” penalties A large employer would be penalized $2,000 per full-time employee if they don’t offer coverage to 95 percent. “We take our full-time employee, and we have at least 95 percent covered, we’ll not suffer the sledgehammer penalty. We’ll still suffer a penalty because we’re not 100 percent, but not the sledgehammer one,” Roberts said. The mallet penalty occurs when coverage is provided but a single employee …Read More