The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for short, is an extensive piece of legislation that can be difficult to understand. The ACA was supposed to increase the quality and availability of affordable health insurance, which would reduce the uninsured rate and lower the cost of healthcare to individuals and the government. Since this federal statute was signed into law in March of 2010, many advocacy groups, small businesses, Congress and federal courts have challenged its implementation. As the law continues to develop and unfold, companies should be aware of the changes that could affect business in 2015.
If your company has 100 or more full-time equivalent employees, as of the beginning of this month you are required to provide health benefits to at least 70 percent of your full-time staff. If this is not met, the company will see a $2,000 penalty for each employee below the 70 percent threshold. Uncertain what qualifies as a full-time employee? Full-time employees are defined as those who work an average of 30 or more hours a week. Part-time employees can also factor into this calculation. If two people are working part-time hours and they average 30 hours a week when combined, they are considered as one full-time employee. This can get complicated if the business employs multiple part-time staff, so be aware of the math as you figure out where your company stands.
If a company has less than 100 employees, the regulations are different. Businesses with 50 to 99 employees have another year, until January 1, 2016, to comply with this requirement. Businesses which employ less than 50 people are not required to offer coverage at all for ACA compliance purposes.
Be aware that other ACA regulations will continue to roll out this year and up until 2018. Do you have questions about how the ACA will affect your business? Let’s start a conversation today. Clients of WorkSmart Systems already have a partner in taking care of health insurance coverage for their employees and assuring ACA compliance. WorkSmart Systems can easily answer your questions and help you solve your health care problems too.
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