On July 2, 2013, the Obama Administration announced that the penalty and reporting provisions of the employer shared responsibility portion of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) will be delayed until January 1, 2015. The Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) hopes this will enable them to simplify the reporting requirements and provide employers and insurers time to develop compliant reporting systems.
This delay follows the April 1, 2013 announcement delaying implementation of the Small Business Health Options Program (the section dealing with tax breaks for small businesses) and may indicate that other provisions of ACA will also be delayed (although no such delays have yet been announced).
Republicans question the Administration’s timing – two days before July 4, and through a Treasury blog, when for the past year they had been promising everything was on time. Republicans are calling for a one year delay on the individual mandate, still slated to take effect January 1, 2014. A bill already passed the House that would do just that. Democrats argue that this delay is giving naysayers another opportunity to attack a law that has already been implemented.
Brody and Associates regularly advises management on complying with the latest state and federal employment laws. If we can be of assistance in this area, please contact us at info@brodyandassociates.com or 203.965.0560.
