Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is applauding the administration’s decision this week to delay enforcement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate after receiving information regarding implementation challenges and the need for additional clarity from FMI members and other stakeholders in the employer community seeking to comply with the law.
“FMI has been working with the administration—Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, Health and Human Services and the White House—for the last year and a half to clarify the requirements for employers in implementing the law,” says Jennifer Hatcher, FMI SVP of government and public affairs. “We appreciate their willingness to listen and now to address our concerns that the employer community needs more time and more clarity before the new ACA requirements and mandates fully go into effect. There wasn’t enough time for employers with fluctuating workforces to adequately review all of ACA’s employer rules, modify their plans, build compliance systems and develop reporting mechanisms to be fully in compliance by Jan. 1, 2014.
“We’re pleased that the Administration recognized the unique challenges facing the food retail community, and our dynamic workforce, and offered 2014 as a transitional year, she adds. “In the meantime, we will encourage our members to test the systems through voluntary reporting in 2014.
“We look forward to continued work with White House and U.S. Treasury teams in order to try to minimize the burdens so that retailers and wholesalers can continue to provide health coverage that is affordable to both the employee and the employer.”
