Prior to this delay to January 2015, the law stated that beginning in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees may be subject to a penalty tax if they do not offer health care coverage to all full-time employees (and potentially their dependents).

These employers would also be subject to a penalty if they offer coverage that is unaffordable or does not provide minimum value. These penalties, known as the "Pay or Play" penalties, will affect an employer once any full-time employee purchases health insurance through an exchange and receives a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction related to the coverage.  More here....

Now what??

We at Personnel Source have been monitoring and studying the effects of the PPACA as the rules and guidance papers have emerged. Frankly, we are not surprised with the issuance of this delay given the many rules and reforms the new law refers to  but offers little in terms of the reality of implementation.  We are, however, very surprised that there has not been a delay issued with regard to the mandate that individuals purchase health care insurance if they are not covered by a qualified employer policy. Similar to the employer mandate, the individual mandate brings challenges in terms of implementation and cost equal to those employers have been lobbying against.  It is hard to believe that we will not see even more delays with the 2014 deadline fast approaching and the political implications with regard to upcoming mid-term elections.  The question we ask ourselves is will there just be delays or will we ultimately see mandated healthcare with a possibility of implementation? Stay tuned......