With all the changes in the healthcare laws today, business owners may be confused about the circumstances in which they need to offer health insurance to their employees. You may know that full-time employees are required to be provided with healthcare for companies with more than 50 full-time employees but it becomes a little more complicated when you’re talking about temporary employees such as interns.

Beginning in 2015, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will require large employers to offer healthcare coverage for full time employees or risk paying a penalty. According to the Employer Shared Responsibility provision of the ACA, employers with 100 or more full-time employees need to offer healthcare coverage for 70% of their full-time employees in 2015. This will increase to 95% for 2016. This employer mandate is based on full-time equivalent employees, not just full-time employees. A full-time employee is one who works 30 hours per week, on average, or 130 hours per calendar month. When calculating hours for the purpose of full-time employment status, an employer must consider hours for which an employee is paid or entitled to payment. Hours entitled to payment would include paid time off, such as vacation or a paid leave of absence.
Unpaid interns, even if working full time hours, are not considered full-time employees, therefore not eligible for health insurance coverage. However, paid interns require a closer examination to determine eligibility. If a paid intern works 30 hours or more, he/she must be offered health insurance to avoid a penalty. However if the full-time paid intern can be classified as a seasonal worker, that is, working 6 months or less at approximately the same time each year, the employer does not need to offer health insurance coverage.

All these changes and requirements may be difficult to keep up with but you’re friendly neighborhood Gallen Insurance agent is here to help you navigate the changing waters of American healthcare requirements. For more information on the Affordable Care Act and Healthcare Insurance, please contact:

Mike Fields
2237 Lancaster Pike
PO Box 100
Shillington, PA 19607
Direct: 610-898-6532