Leevers Asks Subcommittee to Amend Affordable Care Act

ARLINGTON, Va. — John W. Leevers, president of Leevers Supermarkets, Franktown, Colo., and member of the National Grocers Association here, testified Friday before a congressional subcommittee on the potential adverse consequences of the Affordable Care Act, which will require small businesses to provide employees with health insurance by 2014 or pay financial penalties.

Leevers stressed that his company already provides health benefits to its full-time employees.  However, he pointed to the "Shared Responsibility" portions of the ACA, which could cause his businesses' health care costs to skyrocket from roughly $480,000 to $2 million annually.

This increase would be due in large part to a provision of the law reclassifying full-time employees as those working only 30 hours per week, forcing the employer to provide them with health insurance or pay financial penalties. The law also prohibits businesses with more than 100 employees, such as Leevers Markets, from participating in the alternative health exchange products, which may be more affordable.

He urged the subcommittee to consider amendments to the ACA to reflect the way in which employers generally categorize employees as "full-time" or "part-time."

Leevers Supermarkets operates 13 stores of which 11 are under the Save-a-lot. The grocer employs roughly 300 employees throughout Colorado.