The White House delayed the employer mandate for Health Care Reform until 2015. Under Obamacare, companies with at least 50 full-time employees will be required to provide health benefits to workers or face penalties of $3000 per worker.
“During this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage,” Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, said in a statement.
More than half of Americans, 170 million people, are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, according the census data and for companies with at least 50 workers, 94 percent already offer health benefits.
The delay is a recognition of the concern expressed by the business community. The bulk of the impact would be on small businesses since large ones already offer healthcare. On the other hand, a significant percentage of the workforce is employed bya small business without healthcare benefits.
The delay buys time to refine and collaborate with business to lower the economic risk since no one can fully analyze the economic impact. But progress does not come without calculated risk. It’s likely the administration forges ahead after further analysis. There isn’t enough political support to over turn the law and no motivation for the President to walk away from it. Plus there are 40 mil people without healthcare who stand to benefit and they vote.
policy examiner 