Friday, August 23, 2013

'Pay or play' postponed; most plan design, notice and fee requirements remain in place

Health Care Law's Employer Mandate Delayed Until January 2015

'Pay or play' postponed; most plan design, notice and fee requirements remain in place


The Obama administration caught the U.S. business community by surprise when it announced a one-year delay, until Jan. 1, 2015, in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA) mandate that employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees provide health care coverage to their full-time employees (those working on average 30 or more hours per week) or pay steep penalties.

The announcement, by Mark J. Mazur, the assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, was made via the Treasury Notes blog late in the day on July 2, 2013. Mazur said the mandate's delay is intended to "provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees." He added: "During this 2014 transition period we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage. Also, our actions today do not affect employees’ access to the premium tax credits available under the ACA (nor any other provision of the ACA)."

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