Starting in 2015, “large employers,” generally those that employ a monthly average of 50 or more full-time plus full-time equivalent employees during the calendar year, will be subject to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility provisions.
Under these provisions employers are asked to:
Employers are not required to offer coverage under these provisions. However, a large employer may be subject to an Employer Shared Responsibility penalty if it does not offer health coverage at all, or offers coverage to less than 95 percent of its full-time employees and their dependents. The employer must also offer coverage that is affordable and that meets certain minimum coverage standards (covers at least 60 percent of benefit costs) in order to meet the shared responsibility standard.
The penalty will apply only if at least one employee receives a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction through coverage in a public Health Insurance Marketplace.
Additional guidance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be available soon.
All of HAP’s Group coverage options meet these standards.
