White House Tweaks Employer Mandate Again

Obamacare’s requirement that employers with 50 or more employees provide healthcare has been pushed back until 2015.

February 12, 2014

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Treasury has released more adjustments to the Affordable Care Act, including some that impacts employers, the Washington Post reports.

Key changes include pushing back the deadline for compliance for all companies with 50 or more employees until 2015. Employers with between 50 and 99 workers have until 2016 to provide healthcare. To take advantage of the situation, employers have to verify with the federal government that they are not slashing positions to avoid the mandate.

Companies with 100 or more employees have to offer coverage for 70% of their workers, not the previous 95%. Volunteers, including volunteer firefighters, will not be considered full-time workers and thus are exempt from the health care law.

Treasury’s new regulations also encompass how employers should count how many hours are worked by employees (seasonal workers and teachers, for example, make this difficult to accomplish). These changes won’t impact most big employers because about 95% already offered health insurance before Obamacare was enacted.

The majority of Americans are not in favor of the health care law. According to a recent survey, more than half of respondents want the Affordable Care Act repealed or scaled back.

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