Last updated on October 7th, 2015 at 03:38 pm
Restaurants have scored a major victory as the U.S. Senate followed the House’s lead and passed the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) advocated for the new legislation, which will preserve the ability of restaurants and other businesses with 50-100 employees to buy health insurance plans on the more affordable large-group market. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation. Without the change, a provision in the Affordable Care Act would have pushed businesses with 50-100 employees into the small-group insurance market starting in 2016.
The small-group market generally offers fewer options and the change would have resulted in higher costs for employers and sharp premium increases for employees. According to NRA research, more than 25,000 restaurants and one million employees will be helped by the change.
Starting in 2016, the Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees to offer health coverage to full-time employees.
The NRA is part of the 50-100 Coalition, a group of business associations that has advocated for passage of the PACE Act and remains committed to pursuing further reasonable reforms to the Affordable Care Act, including changing the law’s definition of “full time” from 30 hours to the traditional 40-hours-a-week definition
