Per federal guidance under the ACA, employer-sponsored minimum essential coverage (MEC) is considered affordable if an employee’s required contribution for the lowest-cost, self-only option with minimum value does not exceed an annually indexed percentage of the employee’s household income. Employees and their family members eligible for minimum-value employer-sponsored MEC that meets the affordability standard cannot receive premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions for public exchange coverage.
The impact of this to any employer would be on those who use the exact safe harbor dollar amount to set employee contributions. Effective January 1, those contributions would have to be reduced to meet the safe harbor benchmark for 2024.
