The bill changes the definition of full-time work from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers must provide health insurance for full-time workers.
Rep. Young argued that the definition of a 30-hour work week hinders the number of hours people are working and the wages they are receiving due to many employers lowering the number of hours employees work to avoid providing health insurance.
“We don’t want to cut people’s hours,” Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. said. “We want them to work more.”
The opposition to the bill said the increase of full-time hours will lower the number of people who are able to receive health insurance through their employers.
If it were to become law, one million fewer people would receive employment-based health insurance and 500,000 people would become uninsured.
“H.R. 30 is nothing but a sucker punch to the middle class,” Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. said in his argument on the House floor Thursday.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Save American Workers Act would increase the federal deficit by $53.2 billion in the next 10 years.
The bill, passed 252 to 172 after more than an hour of debate, will move to the Senate. While many previous bills making edits to the Affordable Care Act were struck down by the Senate with a Democratic majority, the Senate now has a Republican majority following the results of the 2014 midterm election.
The White House released a statement Wednesday which said that if the bill were to arrive at the President’s desk, he would veto it.
The House of Representatives has voted more than 50 times to edit or repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Emily Ernsberger
