What employers are exempt from ACA?

Asked by: Elyse Boyer  |  Last update: April 20, 2025
Score: 5/5 (12 votes)

Businesses with fewer than 50 workers are exempt from the employer mandate, but if they chose to offer health coverage it must meet certain ACA specifications.

Who is exempt from ACA?

Hardship exemptions are available for those who cannot afford to pay for health insurance or for whom health insurance would exceed 8.16 percent of their gross household income.

Does the ACA apply to all employers?

The ACA employer mandate requires ALEs to offer at least 95% of their full-time workers and their dependents affordable health insurance that meets MEC and provides minimum value. If they don't, they may be subject to employer mandate penalties in the form of shared responsibility payments.

How to determine if an employee is ACA eligible?

The predefined period is known as the "measurement period" or ACA lookback period. If the employee's average hours per week are 30 or higher, that employee is considered full-time for purposes of the ACA (regardless of HR full- or part-time status).

Are employers with less than 50 employees exempt from Obamacare?

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.

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Requirements for Employers [Overview]

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What is the ACA employer mandate for 2024?

Employer mandate overview

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.

What happens when a company has more than 50 employees?

Once you hit the 50 employee threshold, your company becomes what's called an “applicable large employer” (ALE). In addition to offering health insurance, you'll need to demonstrate your HR compliance to the IRS every year by filing Forms 1095-C and 1094-C.

What disqualifies you from ACA?

Can you be denied Obamacare? As long as you are eligible for Obamacare, you can't be denied. That means that as long as you are living in the U.S. lawfully and are not incarcerated or covered by Medicare, you can enroll in an ACA insurance plan.

What is the 26 week rule for ACA?

If an ongoing employee leaves employment and returns to work with the same employer within 13 weeks (26 weeks for academic employers), the employee is eligible for benefits the first of the month following his return to employment and he remains eligible through the end of his Stability Period.

What is the ACA 30 hour rule?

Under the Affordable Care Act, full-time employees work an average of either 30 hours or more in a week or 130 hours during the month. Employers with over 50 full-time employees must comply with ACA requirements. Full-time employees who work at least 30 hours per week in any month are counted as one full-time employee.

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 companies must comply with ACA?

Learn more at HealthCare.gov. If you have 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, you are an applicable full-time employer and need to issue statements to employees and file an annual information return reporting whether and what health insurance you offered employees.

Who is considered a large employer for ACA?

Some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, or health care law, apply only to applicable large employers, generally those with 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees.

What is an ACA exemption?

Exemptions from the requirement to have health insurance

This means you no longer pay a tax penalty for not having health coverage. If you don't have health coverage, you don't need an exemption to avoid paying a tax penalty.

What determines ACA eligibility?

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid coverage is extended to nearly all nonelderly adults with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL) (about $23,556 for a family of three in 2022) in the 42 states (including DC) that opted to expand as of March 2023.

Do large employers have to cover essential health benefits?

Under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, certain employers (called applicable large employers or ALEs) must either offer minimum essential coverage that is “affordable” and that provides “minimum value” to their full-time employees (and their dependents), or potentially make an ...

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.

What if my employer doesn't offer health insurance?

If your employer doesn't offer you insurance coverage, you can fill out an application through the Marketplace. You'll find out if you qualify for: A health insurance plan with savings on your monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs based on your household size and income.

What plans are exempt from ACA?

Grandfathered plans are exempted from many changes required under the Affordable Care Act. Group plans or individual policies may lose their grandfathered status if they make certain significant changes that reduce benefits or increase costs to consumers.

What is the highest income to qualify for ACA?

In 2025, you'll typically be eligible for ACA subsidies if you earn between $15,060 and $60,240 as a single person. A family of four is eligible with a household income between $31,200 and $124,800.

What disqualifies you from the premium tax credit?

For tax years other than 2021 and 2022, if your household income on your tax return is more than 400 percent of the federal poverty line for your family size, you are not allowed a premium tax credit and will have to repay all of the advance credit payments made on behalf of you and your tax family members.

Do owners count as employees for ACA?

When you calculate the number of employees you have for purposes of ACA requirements, don't count yourself, your spouse, shareholders, or partners who own more than 2 percent of an S corporation or more than 5 percent of a C corporation, or spouses or family members of these owners.

What are the FTE requirements for ACA?

Any employee who works an average of at least 30 hours per week for more than 120 days in a year. Part-time employees work an average of less than 30 hours per week.

What happens if two people own 50% of a company?

The 50/50 business partner agreement is an arrangement where there is no majority owner, and both partners in the agreement have an equal share in the management and operation of a business. How each partner contributes to the business depends on how the business partners want to organize these affairs.