Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Chapter 32B, the Affordable Care Act, and the open enrollment period for MassHealth insurance were discussed at the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association’s Labor Relations Seminar on Oct. 31 in Boxborough.
Attorneys Kevin Feeley Jr. and Daniel Brown of Feeley & Brown stressed the importance of understanding the basic terminology that many people confuse and use interchangeably when discussing health care in Massachusetts.
The state’s universal health care law, implemented in 2006, has been superseded by the federal Affordable Care Act, although some provisions of the state program still exist, Brown said.
One example is the Massachusetts Health Connector (www.mahealthconnector.org), the website where people go to shop for health insurance plans. The Health Connector will still serve as the shopping place under the Affordable Care Act, Brown said. MassHealth, a subsidized health plan for those who cannot afford private insurance, is also available through the Health Connector.
The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to create a comprehensive system for health insurance so that every American will be covered. Despite the fact that Massachusetts already had a universal health insurance law, the ACA does apply to municipal and state government employers in Massachusetts, Brown said.
Starting with the 2015 plan year, the ACA requires employers with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance, and employers that don’t could be subject to a penalty, known as the employer shared responsibility payment.
Brown noted that while most plan years start on July 1, the measurement period – when employers need to determine how many full-time employees they have – starts on Jan. 1, 2015. Under the ACA, a full-time employee works 30 hours per week, equivalent to 130 hours per month, Brown said.
Brown suggested that every employer develop and adopt a six-month “look-back” measurement method in order to identify full-time employees. With this method, the employer tallies the hours each employee worked from Jan. 1 through June 30 and then divides the number by six. If the result is 130 or more, the employee is considered full time under the ACA. Hours include all paid time off, Brown said.
The ACA also changes the status of shared positions and substitute teachers, who could potentially work the required 130 hours per month and be eligible for health insurance.
“It’s going to be tough, but you have to find a way to track this,” Brown said.
Each year, employers must report how many full-time employees they have and how many are receiving health insurance. The first reporting requirement deadline is not until March 2016, Brown said.
If an employee who is eligible for health insurance is not offered it and goes to the Health Connector to purchase insurance and gets a tax credit, Brown warned, his or her employer could be considered in violation of the ACA and be fined.
Feeley said municipal employers need to have the “Cadillac Tax” on their radar as the ACA is further implemented. The tax amounts to 40 percent of any premium amount above $10,200 for an individual plan or $27,500 for a family plan, per subscriber. The tax will likely be the main funding mechanism of the ACA, Feeley said.
The Cadillac Tax will not take effect until 2018, but Feeley suggested that employers be prepared because the thresholds could be adjusted by the federal government if it is not collecting sufficient revenue. Employers should add the tax into any future calculations of employee benefits, he said.
Feeley suggested that cities and towns further define who is an employee and who is a retiree, which is allowed under Chapter 32B. It’s best to have this all in writing, he said.
It’s also important to note that, under Chapter 32B, elected officials are considered employees if they receive compensation and if their board of selectmen or city or town council has decided to waive the 20-hour requirement, Feeley said.