The announcement does not directly affect the individual mandate, the individual health insurance tax subsidies, or the state health insurance Marketplaces which are all scheduled to take effect January 1, 2014.

The US Treasury statement included the following details about delaying the employer reporting requirements and the employer shared responsibility payments:

• The Administration is responding to concerns about the complexity of the employer reporting requirements, and the need for more time to implement effectively.
• The additional year will allow the Administration to consider ways to simplify reporting requirements (under section 6055 and 6056).
• The additional year will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees.
• "During this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage. Also, our actions today do not affect employees' access to the premium tax credits available under the ACA (nor any other provision of the ACA)."

Really, the IRS is just now after two years concerned about the complexity of the employer reporting requirements?  Truth is the employer mandate rules were so poorly designed and the data management so massive that the IRS cannot effectively implement and enforce the rules as written.  The delay raises a couple of additional immediate concerns which were not addressed in the treasury department statement.

• First, there will now be millions of employees, who do not have minimal employer coverage, who are subject to the individual health insurance mandate and penalty on Jan. 1, 2014, and who will be eligible for the state exchange tax credit for one year until 2015 when their employer will offer minimal coverage.
• Secondly, since there will be no reporting of employee coverage in 2014, will employees, who have employer coverage but qualify for tax credits, be eligible for the tax credit on the individual state exchanges in 2014?

Additional guidance on the proposed rules for these provisions is expected later this summer. We will continue to monitor how this delay will impact our clients and provide additional details as they become known.
 

Source: Read the US Treasury statement here. 

What is the ACA Employer Mandate?

The ACA includes provisions that applicable large employers (50+ FTE employees) will be required to offer minimum essential coverage that is affordable to employees. Applicable large employers who fail to offer affordable, minimum essential coverage will be required to pay a penalty on their tax return.

Previously, the employer mandate was to take effect January 1, 2014. Now, applicable large employers have until 2015 to comply.
 

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