U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, is co-sponsoring a bill that would redefine what working full-time means, allowing businesses to hire people up to 40 hours per week without providing health benefits.
The federal healthcare law passed in 2010 defines full-time as working 30 hours a week and requires businesses provide health insurance to all full-time employees.
Donnelly says that has created an unintended consequence where some employers have reduced workers' hours to avoid the requirement to provide health insurance.
"So at a time when we're trying to encourage the creation of more, good-paying jobs, this definition is reducing the take-home pay for many Americans," he says.
The bill, which Donnelly is co-sponsoring with Maine Republican Susan Collins, defines full-time as 40 hours a week, a change expected to add $53 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
President Obama has already threatened to veto a similar bill in the House. Donnelly says if his bill passes, he hopes the White House reconsiders its position.