WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie and Congressman Andy Barr announced today that the House Committee on Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe (TN) will hold a field hearing entitled, “Health Care Challenges Facing Kentucky’s Workers and Job Creators” in Lexington on Tuesday, August 27 at 10:00 AM. The hearing will take place at the Farish Theater in the central branch of the Lexington Public Library, located at 140 East Main Street in Lexington, Kentucky.
Congressman Barr and Congressman Guthrie, who serves on the Committee, said this field hearing will provide Committee members the opportunity to learn how the health care law is affecting Kentucky families and workplaces.
"I'm looking forward to joining Chairman Roe and Congressman Barr for this important hearing," said Congressman Guthrie. "Like the rest of the country, the Commonwealth has many examples of how individuals, families and small business owners have already been impacted by Obamacare. I'm looking forward to further exploring the impact on employers and continuing the conversation on how best to grow jobs and improve access to the quality and affordability of health care."
“I am grateful to Chairman Roe and my colleague, Congressman Brett Guthrie, for bringing the Committee to Lexington to hear directly from our job-creators about the difficulties they face,” said Congressman Barr. “In this tough economy, every committee needs to be focused on how we can promote job creation, and the opportunity to hold an official field hearing in our region will show how Obamacare is a constant obstacle to getting Kentuckians back to work.”
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide government-approved health insurance or pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee. Many employers face a variety of difficult choices as they try to avoid the law’s punitive policies, such as cutting workers’ hours and dropping employee health care coverage. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the law could result in employers paying $140 billion in higher taxes and up to 20 million fewer people obtaining employer-provided health insurance. The Associated Press reports employers are “offering part-time over full-time work to sidestep the new health care law’s rule that they provide medical coverage for permanent workers.”
For more information about the field hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings. Media interested in attending the field hearing must RSVP to Catherine Gatewood at Catherine.Gatewood@mail.house.gov.
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