A Shared Responsibility: Employers and the Affordable Care Act
<p>Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department delayed for one year implementation of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers with 50 or more full-time workers make a "shared responsibility payment" to the federal government if any of their full-time workers gain subsidized coverage through the new state insurance marketplaces. As a result, large and midsize firms whose employees gain subsidies in 2014 will not have to share in the cost of that coverage next year. </p><p>While some interpreted the delay as a bad omen for the law’s implementation, Commonwealth Fund vice president Sara Collins, Ph.D., explains in a <a href="/blog/2013/shared-responsibility-employers-and-affordable-care-act">new blog post</a> that it's unlikely to substantially affect existing or new coverage options. Rather, the delay will give employers and the federal government more time to work out the details of employers' critical role in the emerging near-universal health insurance system. </p>
<p>Visit <a href="/blog/2013/shared-responsibility-employers-and-affordable-care-act"><em>The Commonwealth Fund Blog</em></a> for an examination of how the law and the recent set of federal regulations and guidance aim to knit employer-based health insurance into the fabric of a unified insurance system. </p>