Obamacare Provision Requiring Businesses to Provide Health Insurance Delayed Until 2015
In an effort to make up for a funding shortfall in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, state policymakers have proposed solutions that include a “play-or-pay” option under which employers who fail to offer...more
This is the second of a three part series on the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or “Act”), commonly known as “ObamaCare.” This post discusses the Employer Mandate, which takes effect January 1, 2015, and certain reporting...more
The IRS recently issued two Q&As on the subject of employer payment plans, the purpose of which was to again underscore that arrangements purporting to allow an employer to reimburse employees on a pre-tax basis for premiums...more
As almost all employers know, one of the many requirements of health care reform is the so-called employer mandate. The employer mandate generally provides that large employers who fail to offer their full-time employees...more
Beginning in 2015, an employer that employed at least 100 full-time employees (or full-time equivalents) during 2014 will become subject to the shared responsibility (employer mandate) provisions of the Patient Protection and...more
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) imposes significant new reporting requirements on employers providing self-insured group health coverage to their employees and employers subject to the shared...more
On February 10, 2014, the IRS issued final regulations implementing the employer shared responsibility provisions (the “Pay-or-Play Mandate”) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”). The final regulations...more
In a move that will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the rocky implementation of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), the Obama Administration has yet again delayed important provisions of the ACA. In a...more
The Affordable Care Act added the so-called “Play-or-Pay” mandate or “Employer Shared Responsibility” provisions to the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). Starting in 2015, certain employers, referred to as “applicable large...more
Health & Welfare Plans - Health Care Reform: IRS Issues Final ACA “Pay or Play” Regulations - The IRS issued final regulations regarding the employer shared responsibility provisions under the Affordable Care...more
So much attention has been paid to the issuance of the final employer shared responsibility regulations that some might have missed the news that final regulations were recently issued under another of the Affordable Care...more
In This Issue: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act; Other Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; and Hearings and Mark-Ups Scheduled. Excerpt from Implementation of the...more
In last week’s post on the topic of the recently issued final regulations under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility (a/k/a “pay-or-play”) rules, we suggested that the final regulations broke little new...more
Employers in all industries are well aware of the complexities of the Affordable Care Act, and the seemingly constant barrage of guidance that interprets the health care reform requirements that apply to them. We have a...more
On February 11th, the Treasury Department issued its much-anticipated final regulations on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called employer mandate, under which certain employers have to either (a) offer affordable,...more
This week the Obama administration announced that it would delay the employer mandate, which requires that businesses with more than 50 full-time employees provide full-time employees with health insurance or pay a penalty,...more
This week, the Treasury Department announced transition rules that delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer health insurance mandate for some employers and modify it for others. ...more
On Monday, February 9, 2014, the Agencies issued regulations that provide additional guidance regarding the employer mandate (i.e. the “play or pay” penalty) under Healthcare Reform. But, the most surprising aspect of the...more
Breaking with long standing tradition—i.e., issuing important rules on a Friday before a holiday weekend, or (failing that) any Friday (hence the reference to Week 45½ in this post)—the Treasury Department and the IRS today...more
A recent Federal Court decision turned back a potentially debilitating challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s rules governing premium subsidies. The decision, Halbig v. Sebelius, has consequences for large employers, i.e.,...more
(Note: This is the first installment of a series of entries that Alden will be posting each week for the next 51 weeks as he counts down to the January 1st, 2015 ACA pay-or-play deadline). ...more
In September, the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") issued proposed regulations under Sections 6055 and 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") that establish annual health coverage information reporting and...more
Despite the continuing legal challenges and political hardball, as well as the delays and technical glitches, it appears that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is here to stay. ...more
This past summer, the Obama administration decided to delay the “employer shared responsibility” portion (also known as the “employer mandate” or “pay or play mandate”) of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) for one year...more
In This Issue: - Federal Contractors Should be Planning Ahead for the New Section 503 and VEVRAA Rules - Putting the Pieces Together: How the ACA Impacts Health Reimbursement and Flexible Spending Arrangements ...more