Do employees of snorkel boats in Hawaii fall under the Jones Act?

Question

Our boss refuses to provide us with health insurance, even though Hawaii state law requires companies to provide it to employess working at least 20 hours a week. He says that we fall under the Jones Act. Is this correct?

Answer 1

Well, sure, but the Jones Act is Workers Comp, and health insurance is completely different from Workers Comp.  

It's kinda like saying, you don't need car insurance, you have house insurance!  Two different horses.  The jones act coverage, on the workers comp policy is NOT going to cover you, if you fall down your stairs at home on a Saturday night.  That's what HEALTH insurance is for.  

Having said that, I was unaware that ANY state required an employer to provide health insurance coverage for their employees.  It's common for employers to do that, but NOT MANDATED, anywhere, I thought.  If you could provide a link to something that verifies that, I'd much appreciate it.

** Very interesting.  Thanks for that link.  I assume that you aren't one of the excluded categories, right? **