The Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service Dec. 28, 2012, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking addressing the employer shared responsibility provisions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The employer shared responsibility provisions generally go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014 and impact employers that have at least 50 full-time employees or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that is equivalent to at least 50 full-time employees.

According to the IRS, taxpayers may rely on the proposed regulations for purposes of compliance with the employer shared responsibility provisions. If the final regulations are more restrictive than the guidance in the proposed regulations, employers will be given sufficient time to come into compliance with the final regulations. In addition, the IRS has provided a list of questions and answers. 

The Washington Council Ernst & Young has produced a summary of the proposed regulations. ABC also is reviewing the proposal and will provide additional information to members in future editions of Newsline. 

The proposed rulemaking builds upon information provided in four previous notices. The Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (EFHC) coalition, in which ABC is a participant, commented on each of those notices and articles on those comments are available here:

June 17, 2011
Nov. 2, 2011
April 11, 2013
Oct. 5, 2012

Washington Council Ernst & Young also works on behalf of the EFHC, which has participated in numerous meetings with the Obama administration and has consistently advocated for the employer provisions in PPACA to be examined as a whole. EFHC has pointed out that the new requirements have significant consequences for employers and their ability to maintain flexible work options and affordable health coverage for their employees.