Schools wait before giving insurance

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The Oceanside Board of Education unanimously voted to delay a decision on providing health insurance to certain school district employees who work variable hours. Instead, the district will take one year, known as the “Look-Back Measurement Method,” to analyze the hours worked by employees, such as substitute teachers, monitors, aides and coaches, to see if they meet full-time status under the Affordable Care Act.

Under that law, a full-time employee is entitled to affordable, employer-provided insurance if they work 130 hours or more in a month. On average, that’s six and a half hours a day.

“For these people it’s not clear if they meet the criteria,” said Chris Van Cott, the assistant superintendent for Business. “If they meet full-time status they must be offered health insurance.”

According to Van Cott, the district’s attorneys advised the look-back period. He would not say how many hourly employees the district would be analyzing. The Board also unanimously agreed to offer eligible employees insurance based on income information on W-2 forms.