Employer Mandate in Health Care Reform Act Put Off Until 2015

The White House announced on July 2 that it was delaying implementation of the employer mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act until 2015. The U.S. Treasury also issued a notice of the delay. The mandate originally was scheduled to begin January 1, 2014.

Businesses expressed relief over the decision.

Allan Zaremberg, president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce, told USA Today that the decision to delay implementation "is a recognition of how complex the implementation is."

Zaremberg also commented that many regulations implementing the act weren’t published until late last year; many companies wouldn’t be ready to implement it; and that more than 90% of CalChamber member companies already offer coverage.

The California Department of Insurance released a statement in response to the Obama administration’s announcement: "The requirement that large employers provide health insurance to their employees is an important component of ObamaCare and the Administration should make sure that this provision can be implemented in 2015. In the meantime, uninsured workers will be able to purchase health insurance through the California health benefit exchange."

On July 9, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced transition relief from the employer shared responsibility provisions for 2014. For more information, see the IRS question-and-answer document (Notice 2013-45) at www.irs.gov.