Industry insiders are beginning to find holes in the Affordable Care Act employer mandate delay announced last week by the Obama administration and U.S. Department of Treasury. The biggest hole so far, say brokers and media alike, is self-reporting for subsidies.
Thom Mangan, CEO of United Benefit Advisers and EBA advisory board member, says he had one main question for the Treasury after the announcement: What about the people who were going to potentially be eligible for subsidies if their employer was not offering “affordable” coverage, as the ACA stipulates? That answer came Friday from the Obama Administration. “It’s crazy,” Mangan says. “It’s self-reporting … Employers don’t have a mandate to go and report if a person is eligible for subsidy. Some people will just apply and they may be at 400% of poverty level, they may be 50%, whatever they report is whatever goes through.”
