Is the ACA employer mandate still in effect?

Asked by: Jayne Dare  |  Last update: August 7, 2025
Score: 4.7/5 (48 votes)

The ACA Employer Mandate applies to Applicable Large Employers (ALEs). An ALE is defined as an employer with at least 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalents (FTEs). If a business qualifies as an ALE, it must offer health coverage to full-time employees.

Is the ACA employer mandate still in effect for health insurance?

Employers must offer health insurance that is affordable and provides minimum value to 95% of their full-time employees and their children up to the end of the month in which they turn age 26, or be subject to penalties. This is known as the employer mandate.

Is the ACA mandate gone?

Congress eliminated the federal tax penalty for not having health insurance, effective January 1, 2019. While there is no longer a federal tax penalty for being uninsured, some states (CA, MA, NJ, and RI) and DC have enacted individual mandates and may apply a state tax penalty if you lack health coverage for the year.

What is the ACA employer mandate for 2024?

Under the Employer Mandate portion of the ACA, organizations with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees must offer Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) that is affordable and meets Minimum Value (MV) to at least 95% of their workforce and their dependents.

What is the penalty for employer mandate in 2025?

Section 4980H(a) penalty: ALEs must pay a monthly penalty of $241.67 or an annual penalty of $2,900 per employee. This penalty applies if they fail to offer MEC to 95% of their full-time employees and their dependents.

The ACA Employer Mandate - What Is It?

30 related questions found

What is the penalty for ACA 2024?

A penalty of $2,970 (for 2024) per full-time employee minus the first 30 will be incurred if the employer fails to offer minimum essential coverage to 95 percent of its full-time employees and their dependents, and any full-time employee obtains coverage on the exchange.

Can I refuse health insurance from my employer and get Obamacare?

Obamacare is available to everyone, whether or not their employers offer insurance. From a practical standpoint, though, there are financial consequences to doing this. Often, an employer subsidizes part or all of their employees' coverage.

What states have an ACA mandate?

Which states have an Individual Mandate?
  • California.
  • D.C.
  • Massachusetts.
  • New Jersey.
  • Rhode Island.
  • Vermont (but there's currently no financial penalty attached to the mandate)

What is the ACA 30 hour rule?

If an employee is credited with an average of 30 hours per week or more during the Standard Measurement Period, the employee would be eligible for benefits for the upcoming plan year.

Is there still a penalty for no health insurance?

Exemptions from the requirement to have health insurance

The fee for not having health insurance (sometimes called the "Shared Responsibility Payment" or "mandate”) ended in 2018. This means you no longer pay a tax penalty for not having health coverage.

Why do people want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act?

They oppose the mandate that all Americans must have health insurance (the individual mandate), and they oppose a government role in health care. Yet Medicare, a mandatory insurance for seniors administered by the federal government since 1965, is overwhelmingly approved by the American public.

Which states have not expanded ACA?

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was enacted in 2010, but 10 states have not expanded Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care for low-income people. They are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

What is the ACA mandate?

The individual mandate is a provision within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that required individuals to purchase minimum essential coverage – or face a tax penalty – unless they were eligible for an exemption.

What are the consequences of the ACA's employer mandate?

Although the ACA employer mandate is designed to help expand or at least to stabilize employer-sponsored coverage, the mandate and its associated penalty increase the cost of every full-time equivalent employee in any organization with more than 50 employees.

What is the penalty for employer mandate ACA?

The employer must pay a penalty for not offering coverage. The penalty for each month the employer fails to offer coverage is $2,970 divided by 12, times the number of full-time employees (minus up to 30). The employer must pay a penalty for not offering coverage that is affordable and provides minimum value.

What percentage of health insurance are employers required to pay?

Insurance Costs Vary by Plan Type. Employers will pay different percentages of health insurance costs depending on their plan type. But on average, you should expect to pay between 82 and 85% of health insurance costs for individual coverage and between 67 and 75% of insurance costs for family plans.

What are the ACA requirements for employers in 2024?

Employers must report employee insurance information with the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) once per year. Information should be submitted to the state using federal Forms 1094-C, 1095-C, and 1095-B. Organizations must also distribute copies to employees.

What is the 3 month rule for ACA?

The ACA employer mandate rules permit a “limited non-assessment period” as a sort of grace period before which employers will be penalized for failure to offer coverage to a new hire. For new full-time hires, the duration of this period is relatively short (the first three full calendar months of employment).

What is the 80 20 rule for ACA?

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in from premiums on health care costs and quality improvement activities. The other 20% can go to administrative, overhead, and marketing costs.

Is the ACA mandate still in effect?

While the ACA individual mandate is no longer in effect, certain states apply their own health insurance mandates, some of which have financial penalties.

What employers are exempt from ACA?

Small business owners with fewer than 50 full-time employees are not required to offer health care coverage to their employees. However, you should know that if a small business with fewer than 50 full-time employees does offer coverage, then that coverage must comply with the requirements of the ACA.

Which state has the best ACA plans?

  • Hawaii. #1 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Vermont. #2 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Massachusetts. #3 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Iowa. #4 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • South Dakota. #5 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Rhode Island. #6 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Minnesota. #6 in Health Care Affordability. ...
  • Maine.

Can I opt out of my employer's health insurance?

Not Mandatory: You are not required to take your employer's health insurance if you don't want it; you can opt-out and choose another plan. Consider Coverage and Costs: Before opting out, compare your employer's plan with other options, considering both coverage and costs, including any potential tax benefits.

Did the ACA penalize employers who did not offer health insurance?

The employer shared responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act penalizes employers who either do not offer coverage or do not offer coverage that meets minimum value and affordability standards.

What is the 9.5 rule in Obamacare?

The 9.5% threshold for health insurance costs

The Health Reform bill established 9.5% as the amount of income used for health insurance beyond which, it would not be an affordable. This means that if you make $40K annually, the bill subsidizes health insurance premiums beyond just short of $4K.