On July 2 the White House announced that it is delaying the enforcement of the employer mandate that it provide health care coverage to employees or pay a penalty (the “play or pay” provisions) until 2015. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/02/we-re-listening-businesses-about-health-care-law.

According to the White House Blog, the other provisions of the Affordable Care Act will proceed, including the individual mandate –the requirement that all Americans obtain coverage through an employer plan, a health care exchange or on the individual market or pay a tax. The Administration said that the delay was due to comments received from the employer community that the reporting requirements were too complex and that systems could not be implemented in time to assure compliance with the law. Accordingly, the Government will not require the reporting of “full time” employees for 2014 or collect penalties for failure to report.   In the case of employers with more than 50 full time employees, penalties will not be assessed for failures to provide affordable coverage during 2014.

However, notwithstanding the delay in the employer mandate, the post states that the government is  “full steam ahead” in rolling out the federal and state health insurance exchanges on October 1, 2013.

If you have questions concerning the impact of the delay on your obligations as an employer, please contact your Leonard, Street and Deinard attorney or one of the bloggers at the link above.