Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Hagan Amendment to Protect Small Farms

The Affordable Health Choices Act, the piece of legislation that has been at the center of much debate, passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. Kay Hagan introduced an amendment to the bill which excluded seasonal workers from the definition of "employees". The original bill stated that employers who employed more than 25 workers who did not provide health insurance would be subject to penalties ($750 per full-time worker and $375 per part-time worker). An employer would have been subject to these penalties for a year if they exceeded the 25 employee threshold for even a day. This would greatly affect farmers who employ seasonal labor - there are an average of 40 seasonal workers per small farm. Some workers are employed for just a few weeks. Without the Hagan amendment, employees hiring seasonal labor would be penalized for not providing health insurance to these workers. The amendment Hagan put forward removed penalties for small family farms that hire seasonal workers for less than 120 days. The amendment passed unanimously.

The exclusion of seasonal workers allows small growers to be eligible for small business tax credits which helps cover insurance costs. Workers, including seasonal farm workers who do not have access to health insurance through their employer will be able to obtain affordable coverage through the Community Health Insurance Coverage Option or through private coverage. Currently, farmers can cover their seasonal workers who need health care as a result of their work through workers' compensation insurance which is much less expensive than health insurance.

Senator Hagan's press release can be found here

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