Obamacare mandate one scary movie for cash-strapped schools

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — Obamacare’s play-or-pay provision must feel like a suspense-filled summer blockbuster for Wisconsin’s school districts. Or maybe a scary whodunit?

There’s a surprise behind every corner and a lot of questions along the way.

“You know something is coming but you don’t know how to prepare for it,” Jean Marsch, chief human resources officer for the Green Bay Area Public School District, told Wisconsin Reporter.

For some school systems, the impacts of a mandate that will require health care coverage for certain substitute teachers and support staff, play or pay could end up being a horror movie — a real budget slasher.

“This could be much more costly than we might imagine,” said Marsch, who noted the  district of approximately 21,000 students and 3,000 employees is taking a wait-and-see approach until administrators have more clarity on how to proceed.

The uncertainty surrounding the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act is what frightens Wisconsin’s cash-strapped K-12 schools the most, according to Bob Butler, associate executive director and staff counsel for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

Read more at WisconsinReporter.com

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