Title
Ordinance No. 14-98 amending Sections 204 (Employee Insurance Benefits) of Part 2 (Salaries and Benefits) of Article 4 (City Employees) of Chapter 1 (Administration, Personnel, and Finance) of the Code of the City of Colorado Springs 2001, as amended, pertaining to benefits.
Body
From:
Mike Sullivan, Human Resources Director
Kara Skinner, Chief Financial Officer
Summary:
The attached ordinance amends Section 204 (Employee Insurance Benefits) to comply with federal regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, also known as Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), represents the most significant government expansion and regulatory overhaul of the U.S. Healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
The Employer Mandate of PPACA states that beginning in 2015, Applicable Large Employers (ALE) that have 100 or more full-time (FT) and full-time equivalent (FTE) employees must offer eligible, affordable, minimum value health plan coverage to substantially all full-time employees (FT) and their dependent children to age 26, or risk paying a penalty tax. PPACA also requires employers who hire variable hour (including seasonal) employees to count hours for these employees to determine whether they work an average of 30 hours or more per week. To use the safe harbor, employers must categorize variable hour employees into "ongoing" employees and "new" employees and also strategically define certain "periods." Employers tabulate hours worked by variable hour employees over the defined period (Measurement Period) and conduct enrollments during another specific period (Administrative Period). Employees who meet the definition of full-time as determined during the Measurement Period are then eligible for medical coverage during the following Stability Period. The safe harbor is a continuous process with overlapping time periods.
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