The Obama administration announced Tuesday that the provision of Obamacare that mandates employers provide healthcare for their employees would not take effect until 2015.
Beginning on January 1, 2015, companies must pay $2,000 to the International Revenue Service for each full-time worker that does not receive healthcare coverage.
Other provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will go into effect as scheduled, according to the Chicago Tribune. This October, health exchanges through which people can buy insurance will open.
The delay does not change the measure that requires individuals to buy health insurance, reports USA Today.
“We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively,” wrote Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy, in a post on the department’s website.
“We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so.”
“We commend the Administration's wise move,” said Neil Trautwein, Vice President of the National Retail Federation. “This one-year delay will provide employers and businesses more time to update their healthcare coverage without threat of arbitrary punishment.”
Images: News 12 Long Island Twitter, KPRC Local 2 Houston Twitter