ACA

February 24, 2014

From the HR Experts-Final Rules for ACA’s 90-Day Waiting Period Limitation Issued –

The U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced the publication of final regulations implementing a 90-day limit on waiting periods for health coverage as part of the reform provisions of the Affordable Care Act on February 20, 2014. These regulations require that no group health plan or group health insurance issuer impose a waiting period that exceeds 90 days after an employee is otherwise eligible for coverage. The rules: Do not require coverage be offered to any particular employee or class of employees; Are designed to ensure that eligibility conditions based solely on the passage of time are not used to evade the waiting period limit by stating that such conditions cannot exceed 90 days; Include other permissible eligibility requirements, such as meeting certain sales goals, earning a certain level of commission, or successfully completing an orientation period; Allow provisions requiring employees to complete a certain number of hours before becoming eligible for coverage as long […]
July 3, 2013

Administration Delays Health Law Requirement

Late Tuesday the US Dept of Treasury released this statement. Continuing to Implement the ACA in a Careful, Thoughtful Manner By: Mark J. Mazur 7/2/2013 Over the past several months, the Administration has been engaging in a dialogue with businesses – many of which already provide health coverage for their workers – about the new employer and insurer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively. We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action. The Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. This is designed to meet two […]
March 12, 2013

The ACA Penalty

We have seen countless articles on the subject of what employers will face in the way of penalties if they don’t follow the new federal mandates for health care reform. The following article is a summary of the best articles we have found from industry sources. Health care reform known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014. If you are an employer with 50 or more employees, the ACA requires “shared responsibility” for affordable health insurance coverage and imposes a tax penalty if the requirement is not met. Small businesses with less than 50 FTEs will be exempt from the employer coverage “mandate”. For employers of less than 50 FTE then the rules are much simpler and they may be eligible for a health insurance tax credit. Any employer with 50+ full-time equivalents (FTE) is considered a large employer. This includes all part time employees and the hours they work each month. A specific formula […]