Dive Brief:
- College campuses nationwide are bracing for changes to the Affordable Care Act, which could yield instant cost savings for healthcare and benefits paid from schools to the federal government, but could eliminate coverage for adjunct instructors and graduate assistants.
- According to a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education, some officials believe that a repeal will allow campuses the financial room to give more working hours to adjuncts, something that the ACA's employer mandate rule forced colleges to limit in benefit spending.
- Changes to universal healthcare could also balance out conflicting guidance issued by the Obama Administration, which last year suggested that schools offering health insurance to graduate assistants were in violation of laws requiring these positions to receive employee benefits.
Dive Insight:
Colleges are likely to see more money as a result of any changes to the healthcare laws, but the big reveal on an Obamacare repeal will have to be seen in how states and the federal government commit to reinvesting the savings back into the higher education enterprise.
Now is the time for colleges and universities to produce the data showing the impact of a repeal, and how the funds could be redistributed by the schools back into support for increased adjunct hiring, support for growing pension commitments or institutional aid for students.