Avoid Potential Penalties: Prepare For Healthcare Reform

Sheldon Blumling, a partner in the Irvine office and a member of the firm's Employee Benefits Practice Group, was interviewed for the August 2 Compensation.BLR.com article "Avoid Potential Penalties: Prepare For Healthcare Reform." The article offered advice to employers on preparing to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Sheldon noted that, under the mandate, an employer who fails to provide adequate and subsidized healthcare coverage to all full-time employees and their families, will be subject to a penalty of $2,000 per year, per full-time employee. He urges employers to start planning either to provide healthcare coverage in 2014, or figure out how to pay the penalties. He also said that the greatest impact of reformed healthcare coverage will fall on employers with between 50 and 250 employees. And, unlike other areas of labor and employment law, which can differ significantly depending on whether yours is a public or private organization, healthcare reform affects both public and private employers pretty much the same way across the board. His advice to employers: "Get ready!"