The Affordable Care Act requires an applicable large employer to offer it’s full-time employees affordable health coverage that provides minimum value.
An employer for the purposes of the Affordable Care Act is an entity that employs for hire one or more employees. An employer includes a government employer, a corporation, a church employer, a predecessor employer and a successor employer.
Since the mandate to offer coverage applies to applicable large employers, an organization must determine if it is an ALE and subject to the ACA. An ALE is an employer that employed 50 or more employees on business days during the year. An employer that is part of a controlled group is considered a single employer when counting employees for ACA purposes. That means all employees of all employers within the controlled group are taken into account in determining if any member of the controlled group is an ALE.
Employers with close to 50 employees or employers who are part of a controlled group should analyze carefully if they are subject to the employer mandate to offer health coverage.
