Peter1469
02-09-2016, 06:46 PM
Farm Contractors Balk At Obamacare Requirements (http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/02/09/464721340/farm-contractors-balk-at-obamacare-requirements)
Another group is upset over Obamacare.
Obamacare is putting the agricultural industry in a tizzy.
Many contractors who provide farm labor and must now offer workers health insurance are complaining loudly about the cost in their already low-margin business.
Some are also concerned that the forms they must file with the federal government under the Affordable Care Act will bring immigration problems to the fore. About half of the farm labor workforce (http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor/background.aspx) in the U.S. is undocumented.
"There's definitely going to be some repercussions to it," says Jesse Sandoval, a farm labor contractor based in Stockton, Calif. "I think there's going to be some things that cannot be ignored."
Sandoval came to an educational conference for farm labor contractors — essentially staffing agencies for field workers — held at the San Joaquin County Agricultural Center in Stockton in the fall. Men with broad shoulders, wearing denim jackets and cowboy hats, sat in the audience, listening to lectures on a litany of laws and rules regulating their industry, including Obamacare's employer mandate.
Another group is upset over Obamacare.
Obamacare is putting the agricultural industry in a tizzy.
Many contractors who provide farm labor and must now offer workers health insurance are complaining loudly about the cost in their already low-margin business.
Some are also concerned that the forms they must file with the federal government under the Affordable Care Act will bring immigration problems to the fore. About half of the farm labor workforce (http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor/background.aspx) in the U.S. is undocumented.
"There's definitely going to be some repercussions to it," says Jesse Sandoval, a farm labor contractor based in Stockton, Calif. "I think there's going to be some things that cannot be ignored."
Sandoval came to an educational conference for farm labor contractors — essentially staffing agencies for field workers — held at the San Joaquin County Agricultural Center in Stockton in the fall. Men with broad shoulders, wearing denim jackets and cowboy hats, sat in the audience, listening to lectures on a litany of laws and rules regulating their industry, including Obamacare's employer mandate.