Many small businesses are confused about their requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as “Obamacare”. The short answer is, if you have fewer than 50 “full-time equivalent” (FTE) employees, and you don’t offer a health insurance plan, all you have to do is make sure each employee gets a copy of this 2-page letter, written by the Department of Labor.
It’s super-easy — it’s just a template from the Department of Labor that informs employees that:
Kim Buckey, vice president of client services at DirectPath, a Birmingham, Ala.-based employee engagement and health care compliance firm, has noted the following:
“There is no fine or penalty under law for failing to provide the notice, so if an employer simply stopped providing the form, there would be little consequence.”
She explained that the notices are models provided for employers to use, but employers are free to provide the information in another format. Here is technical guidance that explains the content of the health insurance marketplace notice, in case employers want to write their own notice. “Many employers distribute their own version or a highly condensed version of the boilerplate, sometimes as part of an annual legal notices package or brochure.”