Implementation of the Employer Mandate Provisions of the Affordable Care Act Delayed Until January 1, 2015
July 8, 2013
By: Aaron M. Pierce
The Treasury Department has announced that the implementation date for the employer mandate provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) (i.e., the provisions requiring employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide affordable, minimum value health coverage to full-time employees or pay a penalty to the federal government) has been delayed until January 1, 2015. The employer mandate provisions had been scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2014. In its announcement, the Treasury Department indicated that the delay was in response to concerns regarding the complexity of the rules and the administrative challenges posed by the reporting requirements. The Treasury Department stated that the delay would afford the administration additional time to issue simplified reporting rules and give employers time to adapt their health coverage and reporting systems to conform to the rules.
As a result of the implementation delay, employers will not be subject to any penalties for the failure to provide affordable, minimum value coverage to their full-time employees for 2014. However, the delay applies only to the employer mandate portion of ACA. Other ACA changes scheduled to be fully effective in 2014 (including the individual mandate, the required employer-provided notice regarding the availability of exchange coverage, the 90-day waiting period rules, the prohibition on pre-existing condition limitations for all individuals, the out-of-pocket and cost-sharing limitations, and the prohibition on any annual and lifetime benefit limits) will take effect without delay, unless the agencies provide further relief.
While some employers might consider taking a “breather” from some of their ACA compliance efforts, the delay isn’t broad enough to ignore ACA altogether until 2014. Indeed, some employers should view the delay as a renewed opportunity to do some compliance planning, without the pressure of a looming effective date.
The Treasury Department has indicated that formal guidance regarding the delayed employer mandate implementation date will be issued soon.
