The Affordable Care Act: Still a Moving Target for Employers, Employees

On February 11, the Treasury Department rolled out a new round of changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka, ObamaCare. The changes will affect medium and large employers, as well as some teachers and volunteer workers. Here are the highlights: 

Large employers (100 or more employeesas defined by ACA law)  must now offer health insurance coverage to at least 70 percent of their workers to comply with the employer mandate, down from the original 95 percent. This is only a transitional measure, and the original 95-percent mandate is scheduled to return in 2016. Small Business Association data shows that 113 million people, or 66 percent of all U.S. workers, are employed at businesses with 100 or more workers. 

Medium employers (50-99 employees as defined by ACA law)  have an additional year to provide insurance coverage to employees, as their employer mandate has been delayed until 2016. However, employers who want to take advantage of the delay will need to certify with the federal government that they are not cutting back on positions just to fall below the threshold (additional information on certification is available at the IRS link below). Small Business Administration data shows that approximately 7.8 million people, or 7 percent of all U.S. workers, are employed at businesses with 50-99 workers.