Under terms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the official definition of small group for health insurance purposes was set to rise from 50 to 100 employees in 2016, but a bipartisan effort by Congress — along with a president’s signature — has repealed that provision.
The vote for the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act was overwhelmingly in favor on both sides of the aisle. As the bill’s name implies, the rationale for rescinding the small group expansion was fear of higher insurance premiums for employees.
The expanded employee count would’ve qualified businesses with 51 to 100 employees to buy insurance on the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). PACE reverses that and leaves it up to the states to define the small group health insurance market.
California, Colorado, New York and Virginia have already passed laws to adopt the ACA standard of up to 100 employees. Another 10 states are expected to follow suit.
For the full story on how the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) affects your business, no matter how large or small, please obtain a copy of our comprehensive yet easy-to-follow Affordable Care Act Compliance Kit.