National Business Group on Health Applauds One-Year Delay in Health Care Law Mandate for Employers

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Jul 3, 2013) - The National Business Group on Health, a non-profit association of more than 360 large U.S. employers, applauds the Obama administration's decision to delay until 2015 the provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring companies with 50 or more employees to offer health benefits or pay a penalty.

"This is terrific news for large employers all across the country," said Helen Darling, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health. "The one-year delay will give employers much needed additional time to make any necessary changes to their health care benefit programs and any other decisions to meet the law's requirements. It also gives employers relief from yet-to-be fully worked out reporting requirements and the administrative burdens of complying with a complex set of rules."

Steve Wojcik, vice president of public policy at the National Business Group on Health, commented, that that the delay is only one-year for now and questions whether delays to other provisions in the ACA might loom. "Most large employers are well into finalizing benefit changes and plans for 2014. It may mean a temporary pause for some, for others it may mean no change in their plans for 2014. But it's definitely a reprieve from reporting requirements and the dollars and staff time that would have been diverted to compliance with the mandate, though the law certainly has other components that have added to plan costs and administrative burdens already," said Wojcik.

Darling commented that human resource and benefit managers need to take time and now review any changes they were contemplating to their benefit programs for next year and determine whether further modifications are warranted.

"The delay will most likely have the greatest effect on employers in industries with large numbers of part-time workers and with workforces whose hours fluctuate including retail, hospitality, entertainment, agriculture and restaurants. These employers were gearing up for hard decisions about not only health benefits, but also staffing. Now they will have more time to make those decisions," said Darling. 

About the National Business Group on Health

The National Business Group on Health is the nation's only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers' perspective on national health policy issues and providing practical solutions to its members' most important health care problems. The Business Group helps drive today's health agenda while promoting ideas for controlling health care costs, improving patient safety and quality of care and sharing best practices in health benefits management with senior benefits, HR professionals, and medical directors from leading corporations. Business Group members, which include 68 Fortune 100 companies, provide health coverage for more than 50 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families. For more information, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.