The Obama administration has announced that it is postponing the federal health care law’s insurance mandate for employers until 2015, Politico and the New York Times report. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees who do not provide health insurance coverage must pay a penalty. Thus, for 2014, there will be no penalties assessed for businesses that do not cover their workers. The U.S. Treasury, which is in charge of the so-called “employer mandate,” has said it will look to streamline the steps businesses have to take to show they are complying with the law to make it less burdensome. The delay in implementing the employer mandate may increase the ACA costs, as potentially more workers seek coverage on the healthcare exchanges in order to receive federal subsidies toward premiums.
