
The contribution is 5% of the annual wages for every non-disabled employee, up to the annual wage cap of $15,000 maxing out at $750 per affected employee per year. The contribution does not apply to employees who earn less than $500 in wages per quarter. Employers can and will be charged for part time employees earning more than $500 a quarter.
This means if an employee is working for you and is on MA Health or a subsisted Connector plan you will be charged up to $750 in 2018 & 2019. Now there is no limit to how many employees you can be charged for and there is no way to know how many employees you have in this situation until you get the bill. This makes it a disastrously hard cost to budget for.
What’s the upside? Well, you have the right to appeal the charges and ask for a hearing, but there are only a few reasons that a hearing will be scheduled. They are:
- If you employ less than six employees.
- If the wages in question were submitted for an independent contractor.
- If your employee is on your health plan.
It does not matter if you offer an affordable plan you will still be charged this assessment. To read more about this for more information, download our Compliance Bulletin or visit Mass.gov. If you have questions or would like to evaluate your current benefits plan you call our Benefits Manager, Rich Volkmann.