CWA HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE: "Work-Share" Programs

Will workers in “work-share programs” (that work 3-4 days per week, collect unemployment 1-2 days per week) be considered full-time under the ACA? Will they be eligible for subsidies?

Under the Affordable Care Act, employers will be required to provide coverage to any employee that works on average 30 hours or more per week (or 130 hours a month). This will include only actual hours of service or paid-time off. A worker in a work-share program that falls below this hour cut-off will not be protected by the employer mandate.

Workers that are not offered coverage from their employer will be eligible to go onto the new state-based health insurance exchanges to buy insurance with federal subsidies. The size of those subsidies will be based on the household’s “Modified Adjusted Gross Income” which includes unemployment insurance payments in addition to normal wages.

For more information on calculating income to determine ACA subsidies: Modified Adjusted Gross Income under the Affordable Care Act