Health Care Reform Will Expand Insurance Options for Part-Time Employees

Published: Wed 30 Jun 2010

Perry Begay

Waitress Sarah Rose Nordgren works between 25 and 30 hours per week in an upscale Chapel Hill, North Carolina restaurant. She also works as a tutor to high school students and is completing an internship as an editorialist at a publishing company. If she became seriously ill, however, she would be in a difficult predicament because not one of her three employers offers medical coverage.

Nordgren has been searching for a full-time position with health insurance benefits for months now, but she has no prospects on the horizon. So she continues to rush from job to job, hoping that her health stays good.

Ms. Nordgren's dilemma is not uncommon. Fewer than one-third of companies that offer medical insurance make benefits available to their part-time employees, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. Even in the rare event that benefits are available, part-time workers, who typically work low-paying restaurant, retail, and service jobs, typically cannot afford them.

Help on the Horizon

The recent healthcare overhaul will significantly improve health insurance choices for part-time employees, but not immediately. Beginning in 2014, the state-based insurance exchanges, intended to assist people in finding inexpensive medical insurance, will offer subsidized medical plans with several levels of coverage for part-time workers and others who do not have access to employer-sponsored coverage. The legislation also expands Medicaid to allow adults with incomes of up to 133 percent above the poverty level (currently $14,410 for an individual) to be eligible for coverage.

Still, 2014 is over three years away. In the meantime, part-time workers have few options. In Nordgren's situation, she enrolled in a program offered by her restaurant that lets her receive primary care services for $60 per office visit through Piedmont Health Services, comprised of six community healthcare centers.

"It's not insurance, but it's accessible and affordable for ongoing needs," explains Briggs Wesche, manager of A Southern Season, the gourmet market where the restaurant that employs Nordgren is located.

Community health centers are a feasible option for part-time employees without medical coverage. The health centers provide care to all patients, and fees are determined by a sliding scale based on annual income. Patients can look up the locations of these centers on the Website of the Health Resources and Service Administration at www.hrsa.gov. Primary care organizations and local public health departments may also be able to provide a list of inexpensive health care centers.