Health Care Reform

摘要

DISCUSSION has been swirling around for months about the recently signed health care reform bill and the impact it will have on employers. The impending changes mean growers, as employers, have a lot to think about in the coming months and years in order to comply with the new rules. And, with the seasonal nature of agriculture, it's a business model that doesn't necessarily fit neatly into the bill's provisions. Cathleen Enright, vice president, federal government affairs, Western Growers, has beenfollowing the issue from the start. She says Western Growers helped to bring growers' voices to the debate on the hill. "Clearly, when the drafts were developed, the drafters weren't thinking about agriculture, and certainly not specialty crop agriculture," she says. "If you look at the bill and read it with regard to individual mandates and employer responsibilities and such, it's really written for an office type of work environment."