ASA Staffing Success - Staffing Law 2017 No. 2

The failure of the House bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has complex political and policy implications that are hard to assess. House Republicans have been in ongoing discussions on a new bill; but whether they can reach consensus, and whether any bill they produce can pass the Senate, remains uncertain.

For the foreseeable future, therefore, the ACA remains the law of the land. The House bill would have zeroed out the penalties on covered employers that fail to make qualified offers of health coverage, but the bill’s failure leaves the ACA’s “play or pay” rules in full force and effect. The employer reporting rules also will still apply. Hence, employers should continue to use their best efforts to comply with those rules. How stringently the government will enforce the rules is another question.

Within hours of assuming office, Presi-
dent Trump issued an executive order direct-
ing his agency heads to do all they can
within the scope of their authority to reduce
the ACA’s regulatory burdens. This suggests
that there will be no push to enforce the
employer mandate. If that proves true, it
wouldn’t be a change in policy from the prior
administration. Since the employer mandate
became effective Jan. 1, 2015, we haven’t
received a single report of a staffing firm
having been audited, much less penalized—
which squares with the assertion made
earlier this year by a respected national