Question

Dow the government provide healthcare on it's own or hire private contractors?

Answer 1

When we think of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), we invariably think of health insurance.  The ACA mandates that any employer with 50 or more full time equivalent employees may face penalties unless it offers affordable health insurance to its full-time employees. This ACA requirement applies to employers with 50 or more full time employees (referred to in ACA as “large employers.”), including full-time equivalents.  The ACA defines full time employees as those who work and average of 30 or more hours per week.

What about the implications of the ACA on independent contractors?  Many public entities use independent contractors for services such as maintenance, security, building inspection, planning, engineering, janitorial and pest control.  Under the ACA, independent contractors do not count as employees when determining whether an employer meets the minimum threshold as a large employer.  Also, an independent contractor is not counted as a full-time employee who could trigger a potential penalty or counted as full-time in the penalty calculation.  The ACA’s “individual mandate” requires that all individuals, as of January 1, 2014, have health insurance or face penalties (unless exempt due to low income or religious beliefs).  However, an employer will not be penalized for failing to offer coverage to its independent contractor

Answer 2

A contractor describes a person or business that enters into a contract with another person or business for work, usually at a fixed price.

Contractors are not employees of a business as they are not legally bound under an employment contract. It is therefore important to ensure you have a clear agreement in place both as an employer and as a form of contractor.

Compared to contractors, employees have very different rights and obligations. Employees are generally:

• paid a wage

• have set hours of work

• entitled to paid holiday leave and sick leave

• entitled to superannuation.

Because employees have certain rights that contractors aren't entitled to, sometimes employers try to disguise an employee as an independent contractor, to avoid having to provide them with their entitlements. This is known as sham contracts and is illegal.

The Government Do not provide Healthcare to Private Contractors.