The United States Supreme Court recently held in King v. Burwell that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) permits individuals to receive health insurance premium subsidies through federally-facilitated exchanges (in addition to state-based exchanges). Because this decision is consistent with existing agency interpretation, the decision has little direct effect on employer-sponsored group insurance plans.
In the short term, employers should continue all efforts to comply with the ACA’s employer mandate. In addition, employers should take care to ensure that all hours of service are accurately tracked and that all offers of coverage to full-time employees are properly reported in 2016. In the long term, the Supreme Court’s decision has likely provided enough certainty about the future and stability of the ACA that agencies will begin to release additional ACA guidance. Employers should continue to stay up to date on guidance as it is issued.
** Thank you to summer associate Courtney Harrison who assisted with this post. **