Heather Montgomery had the upcoming spring semester at Clemson University all planned out. The college sophomore secured an internship with a Maryland-based print company in March 2012, putting her well on her way to fulfilling a degree requirement mandated by the university’s Graphic Communications program of completing two internships.
The internships could be either paid or unpaid, and interns are required to work full-time — 40 hours each week. The company she planned to work for would pay her $10 an hour and provide her with housing, she told Red Alert Politics.
But the Clemson student received an email in October saying her internship had been cancelled — because of Obamacare.
“I have some bad news,” the email stated. The program’s internship coordinator “brought up some issues to the employers at [Clemson's job fair] about Obamacare. With the current uneasy state of what is going on with the government and what wasn’t foreseen by [the company], there is a chance that we may have to suspend our internship program temporarily to avoid a $7,000 fee.
“Since there is no clause about internships, we are not sure what to do,” the email continues. “… I will keep you updated when we know what is going on with the ACA. Sorry about this inconvenience, as it was very unexpected.”
It’s an unforeseen consequence of Obamacare’s employer mandate and a subject neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the Department of Health and Human Services has broached, at least not publicly. Many interns work more than 30 hours each week, and if they’re completed during the fall or spring semesters, interns work a minimum of 90 days. Under the employer mandate, they’re considered full-time employees, and companies are therefore required to provide them with health insurance.
