CWA HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE: Automatic Enrollment

Is there a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to automatically enroll employees in their healthcare plan?

The Affordable Care Act includes a new rule requiring employers with 200 or more full-time employees to automatically enroll new full-time workers into company offered benefit plans.

The Department of Labor has been charged with writing the rules to guide employers in implementing this policy and setting timelines for when the new requirements will be put into effect.

In a December 2010 FAQ, the Department of Labor stated that these rules would come online by 2014 after guidance had been issued. In a more recent release, from February 2012, the DoL stated that regulatory guidance would not be ready by 2014 and that employers will not need to comply until guidance was issued.

More information on this Automatic Enrollment provision: Automatic Enrollment Q&A

In-depth news story on industry and consultant reactions to this regulations: Automatic-Enrollment Mandate in Reform Law Confuses Employers, Consultants