I’ve been cleaning through my drafts file, and here’s an article from 2013 that reports CARD cut a number of employees’ hours so they won’t have to pay Obamacare for those people. Urseny is so embedded – she didn’t even ask how many people would be cut to 28 hours. She didn’t even bother to talk to those employees about how they would manage. She has never done a follow-up to this story.
Meanwhile, management pays between 2 and 6 percent for benefits packages which range from $25,000 to $30,000/year. CARD spends about $500,000/year on management benefits for employees who make as much as $120,000/year in salary.
Chico Area Recreation and Park District hears about impact of Obamacare
By LAURA URSENY-Staff Writer
CHICO — Like many getting acquainted with the federal Affordable Care Act, there are a lot of question marks for the Chico Area Recreation and Park District board and staff.Some of those were answered by Rose Krepelka of CARD’s insurance provider, InterWest Insurance Inc. of Chico.
“I can go for 15 minutes or for four days,” Krepelka told the board last week when she asked how deeply they wanted to delve into the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare.
She acknowledged there’s a lot of confusion about the new regulations, especially since some affecting businesses have been delayed to 2015.
CARD already provides medical coverage to full-time employees, but more employees will be eligible for medical insurance in 2015 with the new definition of full time.
Obamacare’s definition of full time is working 30 or more hours weekly on a regular basis.
At CARD there are 32 full-time employees, and part-timers vary from 120 to 180, depending on the time of the year and recreational offerings. The full-time-equivalent is 85, according to General Manager Steve Visconti.
Medical care coverage per full-time employee currently costs CARD about $10,000 yearly. With the new definition, CARD was forced to adjust schedules of some employees to keep them part time. Visconti said CARD’s budget couldn’t afford to provide coverage to more employees.
Individuals without medical coverage can start shopping in October, with the coverage launching in January. Individuals without insurance are subject to tax penalties at $95 per adult $47.50 per child. That jumps to $325 adult, $165.50 child penalties in 2015.
CARD’s part-time employees can find insurance from California’s health exchange, called Covered California, or from Medi-Cal, she noted.
Employees will be getting information on obtaining insurance through letters from companies like hers. In addition to that, Krepelka noted there will be “navigators and enrollers” who are trained and certified to help Californians understand Obamacare. Residents might run into them outside a big-box store or at a mall.
Krepelka said the jury’s out on how successful Obamacare will be. People who have been unable to get medical coverage because of their conditions will now be part of the system — and an expense.
Krepelka said the balance built into Obamacare is that young people, who don’t need much in the way of health care, will pay for the older people who are greater users of services.
Likely, existing insurance rates will increase for those already covered as well, she said.
“There’s information coming out weekly,” she noted, including a Californian’s ability to sign up for insurance that starts in October.
Covered California’s website address is www.coveredca.com. The exchange is also on Facebook and Twitter.
In other news, the CARD board approved the 2013-14 budget unanimously and with no discussion, but directors Jan Sneed and Herman Ellis were not at the meeting.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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