Health Insurance Coverage

[AccTaxMan]

A S-corp has 5 employees. There are 3 full-time employees and 2 part-time employees. The S-corp has a health policy that covers the 3 full-time employees only.

Does it have any problem based on the Affordable Care Act new guidelines?

[Mo Sheets]

Here is a link that might be helpful

Based on the information below (part of Q & A listed), it doesn't sound like the employer is subject to the employer shared responsibility provision and therefore would not need to provide coverage for the part-time workers since they do not employ the equivalent of 50 FTE's.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Questions-and-Answers-on-Employer-Shared-Responsibility-Provisions-Under-the-Affordable-Care-Act

1. What are the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?

For 2015 and after, employers employing at least a certain number of employees (generally 50 full-time employees or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that is equivalent to 50 full-time employees) will be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions under section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code (added to the Code by the Affordable Care Act). As defined by the statute, a full-time employee is an individual employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week. An employer that meets the 50 full-time employee threshold is referred to as an applicable large employer.

Under the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions, if these employers do not offer affordable health coverage that provides a minimum level of coverage to their full-time employees (and their dependents), the employer may be subject to an Employer Shared Responsibility payment if at least one of its full-time employees receives a premium tax credit for purchasing individual coverage on one of the new Affordable Insurance Exchanges, also called a Health Insurance Marketplace (Marketplace).

Which Employers Are Subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions?



4. I understand that the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions apply only to employers employing at least a certain number of employees. How many employees must an employer have to be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions?

To be subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions for a calendar year, an employer must have employed during the previous calendar year at least 50 full-time employees or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that equals at least 50. For example, an employer that employs 40 full-time employees (that is, employees employed 30 or more hours per week on average) and 20 employees employed 15 hours per week on average has the equivalent of 50 full-time employees, and would be an applicable large employer.

Seasonal workers are taken into account in determining the number of full-time employees. However, if an employer’s workforce exceeds 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 who were employed during that period of no more than 120 days were seasonal workers, the employer is not considered an applicable large employer. Seasonal workers are workers who perform labor or services on a seasonal basis as defined by the Secretary of Labor, and retail workers employed exclusively during holiday seasons. For this purpose, employers may apply a reasonable, good faith interpretation of the term “seasonal worker.”

Employers will determine each year, based on their current number of employees, whether they will be considered an applicable large employer for the next year. For example, if an employer has at least 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) for 2014, it will be considered an applicable large employer for 2015. Note that because employers will be performing this calculation for the first time to determine their status for 2015, there is a transition rule intended to make this first calculation easier. See question 31 for a discussion of this transition rule for 2015 determination of applicable large employer status.

Employers average their number of employees across the months in the year to see whether they will be an applicable large employer for the next year. This averaging can take account of fluctuations that many employers may experience in their work force across the year. The final regulations provide additional information about how to determine the average number of employees for a year, including information about how to take account of salaried employees who may not clock their hours.