Benefits Buzz
The U.S. Department of Treasury announced on Tuesday that the Employer Mandate will be delayed until 2015. This rule is also commonly referred to as the Employer Shared Responsibility requirement or the Pay or Play provision.
The Employer Mandate was set to impose financial penalties starting in 2014 on employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees that failed to offer health insurance to employees, as well as those employers that offered health insurance that was considered unaffordable.
Most health insurance professionals have some familiarity about the government subsidies that will be available next year to eligible individuals. These subsidies will reduce insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses for those that qualify, and will only be available to individuals that enroll in coverage through health insurance marketplaces, also known as the public exchanges.
Last week, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) introduced S 9.66, the Medical FSA Improvement Act, to eliminate the Use-It or Lose-It rule by allowing individuals to cash-out unused Flexible Spending Account (FSA) balances with the amounts treated as taxable income.
View the legislative language >>
What could this mean for Americans?
Most employers will be required to provide a written notification to employees in regards to the ability to access coverage through the new Health Insurance Marketplaces, also known as the exchanges. Even employers that don't provide coverage to their employees will be required to provide this written notification.
The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) published guidance on May 1, 2013 about the role of insurance producers in the Health Insurance Marketplaces, also referred to as the public exchanges.
The guidance suggests that insurance producers will play a valuable role in facilitating public exchange enrollments starting this October.
