Obama Administration Delays Implementation of Key Part of the Affordable Care Act

The Administration announced recently that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. Scheduled to become effective January 1, 2014, the new effective date is January 1, 2015.  Formal transition guidance will be published in the coming weeks.  The Administration intends to strongly encourage employers and insurers to voluntarily implement the information reporting in 2014.

Because of the delay in reporting requirements, the Administration has also delayed the “shared responsibility payments” until 2015.  Under ACA’s “Employer Mandate,” employers with more than 50 full time employees would have to begin to offer affordable health insurance as defined by the Act or face substantial penalties or “shared responsibility payments.”  The delay means these penalties will not apply to 2014.

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