For over 77% of our Crew Members there is absolutely no change to their healthcare coverage provided by Trader Joe's.
The ACA brings a new potential player into the arena for the acquisition of health care.
Stated quite simply, the law is centered on providing low cost options
to people who do not make a lot of money. Somewhat by definition, the
law provides those people a pretty good deal for insurance ... a deal
that can't be matched by us -- or any company. However, an individual
employee (we call them Crew Member) is only able to receive the tax
credit from the exchanges under the act if we do not offer them
insurance under our company plan.
Perhaps an example will help. A Crew Member called in the other day
and was quite unhappy that she was being dropped from our coverage
unless she worked more hours. She is a single mom with one child who
makes $18 per hour and works about 25 hours per week. We ran the numbers
for her. She currently pays $166.50 per month for her coverage with
Trader Joe's. Because of the tax credits under the ACA she can go to an
exchange and purchase insurance that is almost identical to our plan for
$69.59 per month. Accordingly, by going to the exchange she will save
$1,175 each year ... and that is before counting the $500 we will give
her in January.
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