With news on an almost constant basis coming out about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), it may be difficult for business owners to keep track of all the provisions that are set to go into effect in 2014, many of which they may need to know. To help understand what these statutes are, LifeHealthPro outlines what they include and why they're important to know.
Perhaps the most relevant provision for business owners is the employer mandate, which is colloquially referred to as the "Pay or Play" statute. For all employers that have at least 50 full-time employees, they will be required to offer minimal essential health coverage benefits for their workers. If they don't, they'll be levied a fine of $2,000 for each employee that isn't given extended employee benefits.
In addition, employers must pay for a certain percentage of the coverage costs. LifeHealthPro points out that business owners who don't provide for 60 percent of the coverage cost will be levied a tax of $3,000 annually for every full-time employee. The government defines a full-time employee as one who works a minimum of 30 hours per week.
Something else business owners ought to know about is automatic enrollment. LifeHealthPro notes that for employers who have more than 200 workers on their payroll, employees must be notified of the automatic enrollment procedure, and if they so choose, the ability to opt out and renew on a manual basis. Automatic enrollment must also be granted to new full-time employees as well.
There is also a strict limit on the amount of time an employee's health plan can lie dormant before going into effect. Starting in 2014, all group health policies will have a maximum 90-day waiting period before they kick in.
Even among those companies that aren't required to provide employee benefits for their workers, most say that they will continue to provide coverage for their workers, according to the results of a survey conducted this past spring by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
