Oct 1 Deadline — “Notice of Health Care Coverage Options”

Time is running out!  If your company is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, you should provide a written notice to your employees – a notice of health care coverage options and the Health Insurance Marketplace by October 1, 2013.

The notice should inform employees:

• About the Health Insurance Marketplace;
• That, depending on their income and what coverage may be offered by the employer, they may be able to get lower cost private insurance in the Marketplace; and
• That if they buy insurance through the Marketplace, they may lose the employer contribution (if any) to their health benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor has two model notices to help employers comply. There is one model for employers who do not offer a health plan and another model for employers who offer a health plan for some or all employees:

• Model Notice for employers who offer a health plan to some or all employees
• Model Notice for employers who do not offer a health plan

The model notices are also available in Spanish and MS Word format on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website.  They are in the second section down, items 2 and 3.  The next item, FAQ on Notice of Coverage Options, may answer many of your questions.

Employers may use one of these models, as applicable, or a modified version.  More compliance assistance information is available in a Technical Release issued by the US Department of Labor.

The notice must be provided in writing in a manner calculated to be understood by the average employee.  The notice is required to be provided automatically, free of charge.   It may be provided by first-class mail or email if the requirements of the Department of Labor’s electronic disclosure safe harbor at 29 CFR 2520.104b-1(c) are met.

Employers are required to provide the notice to each new employee at the time of hiring beginning October 1, 2013. For 2014, the Department will consider a notice to be provided at the time of hiring if the notice is provided within 14 days of an employee’s start date.

For further information from the Department of Labor, you can contact either Amy Turner or Elizabeth Schumacher, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor, at 202-693-8335.  Additional information for employers regarding the Affordable Care Act is available at www.healthcare.gov and www.dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform.

As always, if you have any questions, your first call should be to your CPA — Bressler & Company — at 559.924.1225.