Public News Service - CO | April 2016
April 7, 2016
The Corporate Responsibility Act, introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives on Tuesday, would force companies paying workers less than $12 an hour to help cover the state's Medicaid expenses. (Colorado Fiscal Institute)
DENVER - New legislation to force businesses with more than 250 employees to pay their fair share of health care costs was introduced in the Colorado House this week. The Corporate Responsibility Act would close loopholes that allow companies to move low-wage workers onto the state's Medicaid rolls.
Dan Shannon, owner of Gary's Auto Service in Denver, said he pays his workers a living wage so they can pay for coverage, but he's competing on an uneven playing field.
"Since they're not paying their employees a living wage, they're not providing health-care insurance," he said. "It isn't fair to small-business owners, it isn't fair to taxpayers of Colorado."
The measure would charge per-hour fees for each worker making less than $12 an hour. According to the Colorado Fiscal Institute, if the bill passes, the state could tap an additional $80 to $130 million each year in federal matching funds to cover medical costs and the additional revenue would not count toward TABOR limits. If the bill clears the House, it's expected to face an uphill battle in the GOP controlled Senate.
Nearly one-in-four workers earning less than $12 an hour depends on Medicaid, which costs the state between $40 and $65 million a year.
Judy Amabile, president of Polar Bottle, a Boulder-based company, said people working for corporations that don't pay a living wage or provide coverage still need health care.
"Our company plays by the rules," she said. "We believe that it's part of your business model that you take care of your employees. And if your business model doesn't accommodate that, it ends up back on the backs of individual taxpayers."
Representative Crisanta Duran (D) of Denver, the bill's co-sponsor, notes that while Medicaid was designed to help the poorest Americans, there is a company whose sole purpose is helping corporations' low-wage employees get what they call "free government health insurance." Duran was referring to Benestream, a company that helps employers "migrate" workers onto Medicaid.
The full bill will be published here.
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