Obamacare employer mandate kicks in Jan. 1. Start reporting.

Reposted from Medibid - The President’s unilateral delay of the employer mandate is about over, and businesses with 50 or more full-time employees will have to start filing detailed reports with the IRS in January 2015, notes the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). “Full time” means 30 hours or more.

Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) called attention to this during a conference call co-sponsored by the Galen Institute.

Penalties don’t kick in until next year, but the data collection requirements are huge and complex. Burgess said that professional assistance is likely needed.

For each worker, the employer must report the number of hours worked, as well as health insurance coverage.

“The pain from the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare) has only just begun,” states AAPS executive director Jane M. Orient, M.D. “Higher insurance premiums, penalties for not satisfying ObamaCare mandates, and data collection expenses are unaffordable for many businesses.”

Costs are passed along to workers, who may lose their job altogether or be forced to work at two part-time jobs, as well as to customers. Many businesses will decide not to expand, or could fold, she noted.

“The Congressional Budget Office doesn’t count such costs to Americans.”

The pending King v. Burwell case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court could rule that ACA means what it says about subsidies flowing only through State-established Exchanges, is the source of much uncertainty, Orient reports. If that is the decision, States that declined to set up an Exchange could be under a lot of pressure.

“People need to remember that those subsidies are the trigger for the employer mandate’s penalties,” Orient said. “There is no free money. Some get other taxpayers to help pay their premiums; others may lose their job.”

AAPS opposed the enactment of ACA upon reading what is in it, and favors its repeal.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943 to preserve private medicine and the patient-physician relationship.

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