On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE Act), which will keep the definition of a "small employer" for purposes of small employer health insurance community rating rules as those employers with 1-50 employees (unless the state elects to expand the definition to up to 100 employees).
Prior to the October 7th legislation, employers with 51-100 employees were scheduled to become "small employers" effective January 1, 2016 (or 2017 if the employer qualified for certain transition relief), which would have subjected these employers with fully-insured health plans to new health insurance pricing under the community rating rules and would have caused many of these employers to have to switch health insurance coverage.
Under the PACE Act, employers with between 51-100 employees will no longer become subject to the new health insurance pricing rules, which should allow these mid-sized employers to continue to offer employees their existing health plans and should help stabilize health insurance premiums
ACA Breakthrough Development for Mid-Sized Employers
October 14, 2015
