Statement of H&T Subcommittee Ranking Member Janice Hahn before Subcommittee hearing on the Affordable Care Act and Small Businesses

STATEMENT

Of the Honorable Janice Hahn, Ranking Member

Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology

Affordable Care Act and Small Business

October 9, 2013

Despite over 40 attempts by my Republican colleagues in the House to repeal, defund, or derail the Affordable Care Act, the law is still the law and it is moving forward to achieve its objective of finally giving the almost 50 million uninsured men, women and children in this country quality, affordable health coverage.

Last week, the most long awaited portion of this law went into effect, as online health insurance exchanges opened across the country. These new exchanges will mean lower costs and expanded coverage for individuals and small firms across the country.

We should all be really pleased that, finally, millions of Americans who have lived in dread that an illness or an accident could plunge them into financial ruin will have access to good coverage that they can afford.  But today we’re looking at a provision that could potentially impact small businesses and their employees across the nation.

The health care law defines a full-time employee at 30 hour per week.  This change was intended to increase the number of workers to whom coverage would be offered.  There has been debate on both sides of unintended consequences for workers.  This Committee has heard claims from employers that they are cutting the hours of their workforce to avoid offering coverage to these employees.  Some Labor organizations – such as the Teamsters, UNITE-HERE, and UFCW -- have also expressed reservations about the possibility of “perverse incentives” created by the 30-hour threshold.

Of course, the law isn’t perfect. We may need to make changes.  Since the exchanges have just opened last week, I think we might have a clearer picture of the impact of this provision if we waited until we have a good sense of the proportion of people who have bought insurance on the individual exchange, and when the small business exchanges are a little more established.

I am concerned about how this new definition impacts employees and small businesses, but I am just as concerned about the widespread misinformation and blame being put on this law—misinformation specifically spread to deter Americans from seizing the very real benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

One of today’s witnesses will discuss whether reduced worker hours are due solely because of this section of the law or the economy.  We must determine if these numbers are a direct impact of the revised definition or some combination of it and other factors – like sequestration or a slow recovery.  Accordingly, this hearing will explore the current and future impact of this new definition on our labor market.

As with any other major laws, there has been much speculation about how the law will affect small firms.  For this reason, it is important we consider the legislative proposals to address these challenges and work to improve rather than repeal.  This hearing serves as a starting point to examine this issue and start a dialogue so we can address it immediately. 

I am open—and the president is open—to making sensible improvements to the Affordable Care Act. But when the opponents of this law are willing to crash the federal government and the full faith and credit of the United States to destroy or at least sabotage the law, it is difficult to have a true conversation about what’s working and what isn’t. I hope that when the politics die down, we can have that conversation—I think that the Small Business committee could have a really important role in ensuring that the Affordable Care Act proves that it is affordable for employers and employees alike.

I thank all the witnesses for being here today and I look forward to your comments.

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