Saw this in the paper yesterday
Health policy raises red flags at Steamboat Ski Area
Health care employer penalty for large businesses
 could cost $2M
    By 
Mike Lawrence
     Wednesday, March 24, 2010
	Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Ski Area
 officials said Tuesday that the federal health care overhaul could cost
 their business as much as $2 million a year beginning in 2014. 
The health care overhaul includes a policy that would assess a fine,
per employee, to large businesses that do not provide health care to
full-time workers. The policy’s potential impact is ringing alarm bells
with the Colorado ski industry, which has a large number of uninsured
seasonal employees who work enough days to qualify as full-time workers.
 
“The potential impact to Colorado Ski Country member areas is
somewhere between $9 million and $14 million in penalties (per year),”
Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. President Chris Diamond said Tuesday,
citing a Colorado Ski Country USA estimate. “It’s a stunning blow to any
 large employer like ours that employs seasonal staff.”
Colorado Ski Country is the trade association for 22 Colorado ski and
 snowboard resorts. Spokeswoman Jennifer Rudolph cautioned Tuesday that
association staff still is digesting the impacts of the multi-faceted
health care legislation, which includes numerous tax credits and
penalties for businesses of varying sizes. But Rudolph said the
association is very much aware of the employer penalty policy.
“That is something that has raised a red flag with us, and we do have
 some concerns as representatives of employers,” Rudolph said. “We do
have folks on our staff who work closely with legislators and policy
makers and have been paying very close attention to the health care
bill.”
Two members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. John
Salazar and U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, said Tuesday that they plan to work
with the state’s ski industry to address its concerns. No specifics were
 given. 
President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act into law Tuesday. A smaller companion bill, the Health Care
& Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, is pending passage by
 the U.S. Senate and would modify the larger bill. Together, the two
bills include a policy that requires businesses with more than 50
full-time employees to provide health insurance, or a percentage of its
costs, to each full-time employee. Failure to do so when the policy
takes effect in 2014 would result in the per-employee fine. 
The policy would charge Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. $2,000 for
each seasonal employee who works more than 120 days — thus considered
full-time — and who is not provided health insurance. 
Ski Corp. has about 1,000 seasonal employees.
“That’s a $2 million cost to us on an annual basis, where all of a
sudden our expenses just increase,” said Laurie Good, Ski Corp.’s vice
president of financial services. “If we have to foot the bill for $2
million … that’s really going to hurt our business model.”
The actual fine could total less than $2 million annually. The policy
 exempts the first 30 employees from the fine assessment, and Ski Corp.
spokesman Mike Lane said Ski Corp. provides health insurance to seasonal
 employees in their third year and beyond. 
A breakdown of seasonal employees’ longevity was not available
Tuesday.
Diamond said he learned about the employer penalty policy about a
week ago, from Colorado Ski Country. He strongly criticized western
Colorado’s representation in Congress for not blocking the policy.
“It was so tough to get any handle on what was actually going to be
in the bill,” Diamond said about the weeks leading up to its passage.
“I’m terribly disappointed that anybody representing constituents like
us would have let this pass through — it’s beyond understanding.”
Salazar’s staff said Tuesday that they are working with ski areas and
 other members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation to address the
policy and its impacts. Udall said the same.
“I appreciate the challenges that any business faces in providing
health coverage to their employees. I think it is vital that we make
providing health coverage as feasible and affordable as possible,” Udall
 said Tuesday. “While nearing the end of this current debate, I
recognize the unique seasonal work force needs of ski areas and am
committed to working with them and the (presidential) administration to
make sure ski areas are not put at a disadvantage compared to other
employers.”
The policy’s final language is pending passage of the reconciliation
bill.
Lane said Ski Corp. used to offer health care to seasonal employees
in their first year, but has not done so for several years. 
Good noted that Ski Corp. “employees have been at a wage freeze for
two years.”
The employer penalty policy could add to the burden of ski resorts
struggling in the economic recession.
“It’s certainly a very big cause for concern for the Colorado ski
industry,” Good said.