Another Affordable Care Act Mandate Delayed

The Obama administration in February announced that companies with 50 to 100 full-time workers have until 2016 to offer employees health insurance under Affordable Care Act rules. This follows a similar delay that changed the ACA insurance coverage deadline for employers from 2014 to 2015.

Companies with more than 100 employees must offer affordable health insurance to at least 70 percent of their employees by 2015, and at least 95 percent by 2016. Businesses with less than 50 employees are exempt from the mandate.

These Obama changes will affect 50 percent of the businesses that were supposed to comply by 2015. Nearly 8 million workers are employed by the affected companies,

The Obama administration said the delay will benefit employers who might offer coverage to workers who work at least 35 hours per week. Republicans continue to disagree with the delayed mandate, and believe the change should require congressional approval. according to a CNBC report.

In a recent CNBC interview, a senior Treasury official said, “We’ve gotten a lot of requests to give some more time to some small businesses that would otherwise be subject to this, and we’re responding to that by addressing these businesses. We think a phase-in approach is a way to administer the law better, and enhance overall compliance with the law.”