On Monday, the government released final regulations implementing the employer mandate under the affordable care act. The 227-page guidance provides clarification on previously issued rules and offers certain “transition relief” to employers subject to the employer mandate.
Importantly, the final regulations offer employers “a gradual phase-in” of the employer mandate which provides that:
- Employers with 50 to 99 full-time employees will be exempt from the employer mandate penalties for 2015. Employers with under 50 employees have always been exempt.
- Employers with 100 or more full-time employees will still be subject to employer mandate penalties in 2015, but must only offer coverage to 70 percent of their full-time employees. This is a change from previous guidance that required an offer of coverage to 95 percent of full-time employees.
Please refer to the Fact Sheet released by the U.S. Treasury Department for a summary of the final regulations.
Creative Benefits is reviewing the final regulations and will post more details soon.
Meanwhile, feel free to contact Robin Norgaard, our health care reform specialist, with any questions regarding this final regulation or any other provision of the Affordable Care Act. Robin can be reached at 866-306-0200 or rnorgaard@creativebenefitsinc.com.