Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate Delayed One Year
A major part of the Affordable Care Act has been delayed for one year. See below for more details from our new Affordable Care Act information partner, ACA University, created by IFEBP. Click here if you’d like to learn more about the details about what’s included in the program.
On July 2, 2013, The U.S. Department of Treasury announced a one-year delay, from January 1, 2014, to January 1, 2015, in the enforcement of the employer shared responsibility mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The ACA includes information reporting (under section 6055) by insurers, self-insuring employers, and other parties that provide health coverage. It also requires information reporting (under section 6056) by certain employers with respect to the health coverage offered to their full-time employees. The Treasury Department plans to release proposed rules implementing these provisions this summer. Once these rules have been issued, the Administration will strongly encourage plan sponsors to voluntarily implement this information reporting in 2014, in preparation for the full application of the provisions in 2015 and to provide real-world testing of reporting systems.
The Administration is extending this transition relief to the employer shared responsibility payments. These payments will not apply for 2014. Any employer shared responsibility payments will not apply until 2015. This delay does not affect employees’ access to the premium tax credits available under the ACA (nor any other provision of the ACA).
Resources:
Treasury announcement
*This MEA Member Alert is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.