Obamacare is slated to take effect soon, and companies are taking action to prepare for its health-insurance exchange provisions. If you have a part-time job, you could see big changes to how you get your health insurance.
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning and author of the special free report "Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare," talks with Motley Fool health-care bureau chief Max Macaluso about the recent action from Home Depot (HD +0.59%) to move part-time workers to Obamacare exchanges. Dan notes that Obamacare didn't give Home Depot the option to continue providing its limited-benefits health plans to part-time workers, and so rather than providing more extensive coverage itself, Home Depot will cover part of the cost for part-timers to join an Obamacare exchange. Some employees are upset by the move, even though it could result in their getting more comprehensive insurance at similar or reduced cost with federal subsidies.
Max and Dan discuss the broader trend that companies are taking with respect to their health insurance. Walgreen (WAG +0.00%) announced recently that it will move its employees to a private non-Obamacare insurance exchange, while IBM (IBM 0.35%) and Time Warner (TWX +0.00%) have taken similar action to provide coverage for their retired workers. Dan concludes that the news isn't necessarily bad for Obamacare as long as public exchanges get their fair share of participants, rather than just those needing subsidies.
