[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 54 (Thursday, April 3, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SAVE AMERICAN WORKERS ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 2, 2014

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2575, the so-
called Save American Workers Act. This is yet another attempt to chip 
away at the Affordable Care Act and it should be rejected. Just this 
week we saw 7.1 million people enroll in a health plan through the 
marketplaces, which met the goal set by the Obama Administration. For 
many people, this is the first time they have had access to quality, 
affordable health insurance. We should be building on the successes of 
the law, rather than working to turn back the clock.
  There is much misinformation regarding the responsibilities of 
employers under the ACA. The law requires most employers to offer 
health insurance to employees who work more than 30 hours a week, and 
they must pay a penalty if one of these workers gets a subsidy through 
the marketplace. The threshold was set at this level because a large 
share of companies employ their workers for much more than 30 hours a 
week, and they would have to significantly restructure their business 
model and drastically reduce their hours to avoid their responsibility 
under the law. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 
eight percent of employees work between 30 and 34 hours per week, but 
43 percent of employees work 40 hours per week. Therefore, CBPP 
concludes that five times as many workers are at risk of having their 
hours cut if this legislation was signed into law.
  The Congressional Budget Office projects H.R. 2575 would reduce the 
number of people receiving employer based coverage by 1 million, and 
would increase the number of uninsured by 500,000. This would be a 
drastic step backward from the progress we have seen enrolling millions 
of Americans in health coverage. Another claim made by my friends on 
the other side of the aisle is that this provision of ACA is leading to 
an increase in part-time work, when nothing is further from the truth. 
In fact, CBO concluded in February that ``there is no compelling 
evidence that part-time employment has increased as a result of ACA.''
  This bill would cause more problems than it purports to solve. I urge 
my colleagues to vote down this misguided legislation.

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