On Feb. 10, 2014, the Treasury released new rules further delaying the employer mandate for businesses with 50 to 99 fulltime equivalent employees ( FTEs). This announcement effectively created a new class of “mid-sized” businesses that will be exempt from the employer mandate until 2016. The recently released rules also stipulate that companies with greater than 100 FTEs will need to provide coverage for only 70 percent of fulltime employees in 2015 and 95 percent of fulltime employees in 2016 and thereafter. Previously, all employers were required to provide coverage for all fulltime employees starting in 2015. The extended implementation for “mid-sized” businesses and the coverage percentage requirements represent changes from the original law.

The employer mandate was originally due to go into effect in 2014 for all business with 50 or greater FTEs. In 2013, this mandate was delayed for all employers until 2015. The most recent extension applies only to employers with 50 – 99 FTEs. Companies that are near the cutoff of 99 FTEs should be tracking and reporting FTEs during the 2014 year to determine 2015 status.

If you have any questions regarding this change and how it may affect your organization’s planning for ACA compliance, please call our office at 212-736-0055 to discuss your strategic healthcare plan.