The Obama Administration announced late yesterday that it “will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.” The announcement was in response to concerns expressed by ASA and its partners in the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-Flex) coalition, which ASA and other major business groups formed in 2011 to represent employers of part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees in the rule-making process. The E-Flex coalition argued that employers needed more time to effectively implement the complex new requirements of the law.

In a blog posted on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s website, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy Mark J. Mazur said the delay in enforcement of the employer responsibility provisions is designed to allow the administration to consider ways to simplify the employer reporting requirements and to give employers time to adapt their health coverage and reporting systems to the new rules. Formal guidance describing the one-year transition period will be issued next week.

After formal guidance is issued by the Treasury Department next week, ASA will schedule a webinar to assist its members and answer questions regarding these new developments. For more information, visit americanstaffing.net.