“…restaurants employ roughly 10 percent of the workforce both in Georgia and nationwide. While many dining establishments have fewer than 
50 employees and therefore won’t be subject to the mandate, others will be affected…the cost of health insurance has been the No. 1 issue facing small businesses, according to surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business…(margins) are so thin, there’s only X amount of dollars…(if health insurance was affordable) you’d have everybody insured.”
Steve Simon is co-founder of Fifth Group Restaurants, which operates seven restaurants and other businesses in the Atlanta area, employing more than 500 people. Currently, Fifth Group offers health insurance to its managers only.
But under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, when it is fully implemented next January, a business with 50 or more full-time workers must offer all employees working at least 30 hours a week a health plan that’s considered “affordable.” If it doesn’t, the business must pay a penalty.
Despite all the concern in the industry, some restaurant operators say the law’s impact may not be as great as originally feared. They cite the fact that to count as affordable coverage under the law –– thus escaping the penalty –– a business can charge workers up to 9.5 percent of their annual wages to pay for insurance. So if a worker is making $30,000 a year, the business can set his or her share of the premium at $2,850 annually, or $237.50 per month.
The restaurant owners say many workers will avoid such premiums by going without coverage, choosing instead to pay the ACA’s penalty of $95 for uninsured individuals.
