On July 2, 2013 the Department of the Treasury and the White House used their blogs to announce that the employer reporting requirements, and the employer shared responsibility/play or pay penalty, are being delayed until 2015.  The Treasury said that it will provide a formal announcement and additional details next week.

 

Background
The employer shared responsibility/play or pay requirement provides that employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees must offer affordable, minimum value coverage to most full-time (30+ hours/week) employees or pay a penalty.  That requirement was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2014, although employers that met transition requirements could delay compliance until the start of the 2014 plan year.  In addition, extensive reporting was expected to be required regarding the coverage offered to employees.  The blogs state that (1) the reporting requirements will be provided later this summer; (2) reporting will not be required until 2015; and (3) since it is not possible to assess or enforce employer penalties without reporting, the play or pay mandate also will be delayed until 2015.

What’s Been Delayed
The play or pay provision requires employers with 50 or more employees to do the following to avoid penalties:

Because of the delay, employers will not need to meet these requirements for 2014.  

What's Still Required
The delay in the play or pay requirement does not affect the insurance market reforms.  This means that these requirements are still scheduled to go into effect as of the start of the 2014 plan year (with penalties of up to $100 per person per day for non-compliance).  These requirements apply to all plans except as noted:

Employers also must meet these PPACA requirements:

What's Next
The government stated in the delay announcements that the exchanges are still expected to begin open enrollment on Oct. 1, 2013.  It is unclear at this point how the delay of the play or pay requirement will affect determination of employee eligibility for subsidies.  Presumably the official guidance that Treasury has promised to provide next week will address this issue.

The White House blog is here: We're Listening to Businesses about the Health Care Law | The White House

The Treasury blog is here: Continuing to Implement the ACA in a Careful, Thoughtful Manner