With the passage of the new tax bill Congress effectively killed the requirement for individual health coverage by repealing the penalties under the individual mandate for post-2018 years.
But two fines for noncompliance with the employer mandate go up for 2018.
Firms with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees must offer health insurance to full-timers and their dependents or be subject to one of two stiff monetary fines.
The first hits firms that don’t offer coverage to at least 95% of their full-timers if a worker buys coverage on the marketplace and gets a credit to help pay premiums.
For 2018, the fine is $2,320 times the number of full-timers employed less 30.
Another applies to companies that offer unaffordable health insurance. They’ll owe a fine equal to $3,480 for each full-timer who buys marketplace coverage and gets a credit.
For 2018, coverage is affordable if the required premium paying from a worker for self-only coverage doesn’t exceed 9.56% of total household income.
Employers can instead base the 9.56% calculation on an employee’s rate of pay, W-2 wages or the federal poverty line. The employer’s health insurance plan must also be designed to pay at least 60% of the cost of covered health benefits and provide substantial coverage of inpatient hospital and physician services.