WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is an original co-sponsor of legislation introduced this week to provide an incentive for employers to hire long-term unemployed Americans by permanently exempting those employees from the government-mandated Obamacare employee count.
“The number of people who are unemployed and have stopped looking for work is much too high,” Grassley said. “Our economy won’t be where it should be until we address this problem. Exempting the long-term unemployed from the Obamacare employee count will encourage employers to hire these individuals and help solve a chronic problem.”
Grassley is an original cosponsor of the Helping Individuals Regain Employment Act (HIRE Act). Under Obamacare, any business with 100 or more full-time employees must provide government-approved insurance or pay a fine in 2015. Beginning in 2016, any business with 50 or more full-time employees must comply with the mandate.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there are 9.1 million unemployed Americans, of which 2.8 million have been unemployed for 27 or more weeks. While the official unemployment rate is 5.8 percent, the “real” unemployment rate, which considers the number of people who have stopped looking for work, is 11.4 percent.
Grassley is a senior member and former chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee, with significant jurisdiction over government health care programs and policies.
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