Full-Time Work Week Bill Sets Up Face-Off Between Hill GOP, White House
The measure would raise the health law's definition of full-time work to 40 hours. The measure is expected to gain easy passage in the House, but will face a more difficult challenge in the Senate, where Republicans don't have a filibuster-proof majority.
CBS News:
Washington Tinkers With Obamacare Amid Mixed Results For Health Law
More than four years after the law's passage, Republicans are as insistent as ever that Obamacare is destined to fail. Illustrating their commitment to taking down the law, the GOP-led House on Thursday is voting on a bill that would make a major adjustment to the Affordable Care Act. (Condon, 1/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
House Moves To Change Full-Time Work To 40 Hours In Health Law
The House is expected to move Thursday to loosen the rules for when employers must offer workers health insurance by changing the health law’s definition of a full-time worker, reopening a debate over whether the legislation is hurting the labor market. The bill is expected to easily pass in the Republican-dominated lower chamber, where GOP leaders have made it a top priority in seeking to strip the Affordable Care Act piece by piece. That would set up a longer fight in the Senate, where Republicans have 54 seats and would need six more votes to overcome a filibuster. (Radnofsky and Zumbrun, 1/7)
NPR:
Congressional Republicans Take Another Swing At Obamacare
The House will debate, and likely pass a bill, that would make a change in the Affordable Care Act. It would raise the law's definition of full-time work from 30 hours to 40 hours a week. (Ydstie, 1/8)
USA Today:
Bill On Full-Time Workweek Sets Up White House Showdown
Indiana GOP Rep. Todd Young, the lead sponsor of the bill the House will vote on, and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, the top Democratic sponsor of the Senate's version, say their proposals would restore the traditional definition of a full-time job to 40 hours a week instead of the 30-hour threshold included in the Affordable Care Act. Employers with at least 50 full-time workers must offer health care or face potential penalties under the law. (Groppe, 1/7)
Politico:
Workweek Bill Is First GOP Senate Test On Obamacare
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said making the switch from 30 to 40 hours is at the top of the GOP’s Obamacare priorities, along with repealing a tax on the medical-device industry. But an immediate slam dunk could prove elusive. Lobbyists backing the workweek bill said they haven’t yet lined up the 60 votes — including at least six Democrats, who would have to cross party lines despite the renewed White House veto threat — needed to bring the measure to the Senate floor. (Norman and Pradhan, 1/8)
The Hill:
Senate Health Panel Takes Up 40-hour Week
The Senate committee on health will devote one of its first hearings of the new Congress to a GOP-led bill aimed at weakening ObamaCare’s employer mandate, its chairman announced Wednesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who cosponsored the bill, said he will hold a hearing this month to highlight ways the employer mandate’s definition of a 30-hour work week has “made it harder” for American businesses to stay afloat. (Ferris, 1/7)
Connecticut Mirror:
Obamacare Mandate Hits Some CT Firms Harder Than Others
Connecticut businesses must begin complying with the Affordable Care Act this year, but the new Republican-led Congress is trying to blunt the impact. Most efforts to change the ACA, however, will put Congress at loggerheads with the White House. (Radelat, 1/8)
In other action on Capitol Hill -
Politico Pro:
Bill To Repeal Medical Device Tax Introduced
Lawmakers took the first stab in the new Congress to repeal a tax on medical devices on Wednesday — but the bill has a ways to go before it becomes the latest casualty in the Affordable Care Act. (Snell, 1/7)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
Social Security Disability Payments Could Be Cut By A Fifth Without New Action
On the first day of the new Congress, Republicans symbolically bound themselves to what is certain to be a controversial reform of the federal disability insurance program, which would probably occur near the height of the 2016 presidential campaign. Social Security has two components, the disability insurance program and the much larger Old Age and Survivors Insurance program, for which almost all Americans become fully eligible when they reach retirement age. Congress has historically treated them as one system, moving money between one pot and the other if one is running short on funds and the other has plenty of money. That's the situation now, as the disability pot is expected to be empty late next year. There is enough money in the larger pot to last until 2034, or to keep both programs solvent through 2033, according to the Social Security Administration. (Ehrenfreund, 1/7)
