The "employer mandate," (also known as the “Play or Pay” requirements) which was originally supposed to take effect last month, had already been delayed to January 1st, 2015, and now the administration says that employers with 50 to 99 employees will not have to comply until 2016.
In addition, the requirement would be put into effect gradually for employers with 100 or more employees. Employers in this category will need to offer coverage to 70 percent of full-time employees in 2015 and 95 percent in 2016 and later years, or they will be subject to tax penalties.
Please review the attached Health Care Reform Hot Topic for more information.
Highlights:
- No mandate for small group employers (2-50) is scheduled at this time.
- Compliance for medium-sized group employers (50-99) is delayed until 2016.
- Compliance for large-sized group employers (100+) is still delayed until 2015.
- Certain 2014 transition relief is extended, including relief for non-calendar year plans.
- The requirement to offer coverage to 95 percent of full-time employees will be phased in over two years.
- Full-time status is clarified for certain groups.
