The Obama administration has delayed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's employer mandate by another year for certain businesses, according to a report from The Hill.
Under the PPACA, businesses and companies with 50 or more employees are mandated to offer health insurance to those employees or pay a penalty. The mandate will now take effect January 2016 for businesses with between 50 and 90 employees.
The provision was originally due to take effect this year. However, business groups warned unresolved questions about reporting requirements would cause problems. The Obama administration decided last summer to delay its implementation until 2015 in order to give the government ways to simplify reporting requirements for employers and to adapt health coverage and reporting systems.
Businesses aren't allowed to downsize in order to qualify for the delayed 2016 implementation date, according to the report. The Treasury Department has said the decision wasn't meant to influence hiring or downsizing decisions.
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