The Department of Treasury announced on February 10 that businesses with 50 to 99 full time equivalent employees will not face a tax penalty under the Employer Mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a result of not providing health care coverage to their employees in 2015. According to one senior administration official, this postponement is has been granted to allow medium-sized employers with, “a little more time to adjust to providing coverage.” In addition, organizations with 100 or more full time equivalent employees will only need to provide health insurance to 70 percent of their full time employees in 2015 in order to comply with the Employer Mandate. This recently amended phase-in of the Employer Mandate (also known as the “Play or Pay” Requirement) will only impact the 2015 obligations. For 2016 and beyond, all businesses with 50 or more full time equivalent employees will be obligated to provide health care coverage to at leas t 95 percent of their full time employees as originally envisioned in the ACA. We will keep you informed of any additional developments and the HR Support Center will be updated accordingly. Please keep watch for further updates.