The “Pay or Play” mandate determines whether employers will pay the penalty to avoid purchasing coverage for their employees or they’ll “play” and provide the coverage required by law. There are two penalties stated by the employer mandate that go into the decision of whether employers will “pay or play”:
- If an employer has 50 or more full time employees, they must offer the minimum essential benefits to those employees and their dependents.
- Employers must offer affordable coverage that meets the minimum value requirements.
So would you rather pay or play? Employers with 100+ employees have until 2015 to decide and employers with 50-99 employees have until 2016. However, Unum has developed a tool to help make your decision easier. These tools are an addition to a variety of materials that will be offered to employers to help them calculate the financial implications of their health care decisions. Millions of Americans and employers are being affected by the new healthcare laws. Unum wants to take a proactive approach and ensure that all businesses and employees understand the full effects of health care reform and how their decisions will impact their business financially as well as impact employee morale.
The new tools released by Unum include:
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Pay or Play Interactive Tool – helps employers determine whether they will be subject to penalties after submitting employee information
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Pay or Play Decision Tree – helps employers determine whether they want to “pay or play”
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Employer Responsibility Timeline – helps employers see a timeline of healthcare mandates and decisions that may affect them up until 2018
If you have any questions regarding whether you may be subject to the penalty, please contact our office.