Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, also known as healthcare reform, has been in effect since October 1, 2013 and will end on March 31, 2014. While there were initial complications with enrollment, nearly 3.3 million people have enrolled in plans in the Health Insurance Marketplaces as of February 1, 2014.
While individuals currently enjoy access to health insurance not seen before, concern over readiness for some employers has resulted in recent policy changes related to reform implementation. As you may recall, healthcare reform included two separate mandates, one for individuals and one for “large employers.” With certain limited exclusions, the requires every person to have minimum essential healthcare coverage beginning in 2014 or they will be assessed a fine.
The employer mandate, on the other hand, originally required that employers with 50 or more employees provide adequate and affordable healthcare insurance to full-time employees (those working 30 or more hours per week) or be assessed a fine of up to $3,000 per employee who obtains premium tax credits for coverage in a health insurance . While intended to be implemented in 2014, last year the Obama Administration (the “Administration) delayed implementation of this requirement to January 1, 2015.
On February 10, 2014, the Administration further delayed full implementation of the employer mandate. The requirement will apply to employers with 100 or more employees beginning January 1, 2015, and to “medium-sized” employers (defined by the Administration as having 50-99 employees) on January 1, 2016. Additionally, employers will only be required to provide healthcare coverage to 70 percent of full-time employees in 2015, and to 95 percent in 2016. Finally, employers won’t be required to offer coverage to dependents (not including spouses) in 2015 if they are taking steps to provide dependent coverage in 2016.
The individual mandate has not been delayed. Thus, this means that individuals who are employed full time by a company with 50 or more employees and who do not have healthcare coverage offered by their employer in 2014 and 2015 will have to ensure their own healthcare coverage, either through the Health Insurance Marketplace (www.healthcare.gov), an individual policy, or through another state or federal program for which they may be eligible, to avoid paying a fine.
While this further delay of the employer mandate is not ideal, experts do not expect it to result in a dramatic change in the number of people covered by employer-sponsored insurance. Surveys show 93% of all firms with 50 or more workers offer health coverage to their workers.[1] In addition, we must not forget the many essential changes that healthcare reform has provided the hemophilia and bleeding disorders community, such as the elimination of preexisting condition exclusions and lifetime and annual limits. Our community will enjoy continuity of care and access to vital services regardless of these recent policy changes.
Learn more about the employer mandate delay visit.
[1] Kaiser/HRET 2013 Survey of Employer Sponsored Insurance
