Longview Church’s Daycare to Close Because of Obamacare

LONGVIEW — Due to costs associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Mobberly Baptist Church’s Child Development Center will be closing on March 13. Parents of children attending the CDC and CDC staff members were informed of the decision to close the center Thursday during separate open forums. A letter to parents, with details on how the decision to close the center, was distributed, as well. According to church officials, closing of the Child Development Center will not alter in any way childcare and preschool activities provided by Mobberly Baptist Church on Sundays.

Among the questions the church answered about the decision:
If the ACA is not required for Mobberly Baptist Church until 2016, why close the CDC now?

While it is very difficult to anticipate or guess about any pending legislative changes to the ACA, the current administration has vowed to veto any changes affecting employer or employee mandates. It is our desire and intent to allow parents to be in control of transitioning to other day care facilities prior to enrollment in March. We are focused on maintaining the best possible care during this time of transition.

Why doesn’t Mobberly Baptist Church cover the increased costs for these insurance benefits?
Mobberly Baptist Church currently subsidizes operational costs for the CDC in several ways (utilities, equipment, custodial, accounting, administrative costs, insurance, etc.). The day care operations need to be able to operate within the current subsidies and operational costs to be competitive with other day care centers. Currently, the ACA puts them at a disadvantage when compared to centers that are under the full time staff threshold and not having to deal with this insurance cost issue.

Why are we just now hearing about this issue?
Selected members of the Mobberly Baptist Church staff have been praying, researching and discussing this issue for months. As many of you are aware, parts of the ACA were signed into law in 2010, but delays in implementation have kept us from being forced into acting earlier. We were at a point where no more delays are anticipated, other options have been exhausted and a final decision had to be made.