July 5, 2013
On July 2, 2013, Mark J. Mazur, the assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, announced a one-year delay, until January 1, 2015, in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate that employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees provide health care coverage to their full-time employees or pay steep penalities. According to Mazur, 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.” However, he added “our actions today do not affect employees’ access to the premium tax credits available under the ACA (nor any other provision of the ACA).”
Regardless of the delay, employees are still subject to the individual mandate for coverage. As a result, employers should stay informed of options available to employees who may not have coverage available to them, including the options available on public exchanges. Additionally, several ACA provisions are not impacted by the delay and, accordingly, employers must continue to develop and implement systems that are in compliance.
For more information, please contact:
Andrew A. Esposito
P: (614) 923-7700
or
Kevin J. Shebesta
P: (330) 785-7700