AIS Health interviewed Manatt's Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health Solutions, about the potential impact of a recently delayed employer mandate.
AIS Health reports that the delayed mandate gives midsized employers a little breathing room, but throws another curveball to health insurers. A final rule, issued February 10 by the Treasury Department, delays for the second time a requirement that employers with between 50 and 99 fulltime workers offer health coverage or pay a penalty.
Ario said the delay is likely to have minimal impact on employers because about 99% of large employers already offer health coverage to at least some employees.
"Unlike the individual mandate, which is an integral part of the coverage expansion in the individual market, the employer mandate was designed to preserve the status quo in group coverage, not expand it, by deterring employer dumping," he said.