Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC)
Basic coverage for employees. No penalty for employers.

What is MEC?
Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) is an ACA-compliant plan available to groups of 50+ with 100% coverage for mandated services.
- MEC is designed to satisfy employer’s Tier 1 penalty and the Individual Mandate under ACA
- Employees enrolled in MEC are not eligible for subsidies; therefore, the Tier 2 penalty does not apply
- We represent Reliance Matrix
- Reliance Matrix offers the only fully insured MEC
Employer Roles & Requirements
I own a small business—does this mean that I’ll need to purchase insurance for my workers?
No. The new law does not require any business of any size to provide health insurance for its workers. However, it does impose assessments on employers that do not provide affordable health insurance coverage. Whether a small business will be subject to these assessments depends on the size of the business, and on whether any of its workers qualify for federal subsidies with which to purchase their own health insurance.
If your business employs fewer than 50 full-time (including full-time equivalents) workers, it will not face any penalties for not offering insurance. Small employers with fewer than 25 employees and average wages of less than $50,000 (per full-time and full-time equivalent worker) will qualify for a health coverage tax credit.
Businesses with 50 or more full-time (including full-time equivalents) employees that do not offer coverage will have to pay a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee if any of their workers qualify for the premium tax credit, a government subsidy used to purchase health insurance coverage through the exchange.
The employer’s first 30 employees are not counted in calculating the assessment. Employees in the waiting period between date of hire and eligibility for the employer’s health plan are not counted. The waiting period cannot exceed 90 days. Only full-time employees are counted for purposes of calculating the assessment, although “full-time equivalents” are used to determine whether the employer is subject to the rule. Full-time equivalents are determined by counting all part-time hours worked in a month, and then dividing by 120, to reach the number of “full-time equivalent” employees the employer has. Measurements are done on a monthly basis. The employer responsibility rules take effect in 2014.
Are there other assessments on employers?
Yes. The law requires that to avoid an assessment, the employer-offered insurance must be “affordable.” That means the worker cannot be required to pay more than 9.5 percent (and in some cases much less—as low as two percent) of his/her household income for insurance. If the employer’s insurance plan is “not affordable, “the employer is subject to a $3,000 per affected full-time worker assessment. This rule also takes effect in 2014.
Does “affordable insurance “include only individual coverage, or does it also include dependent coverage?
The cost of dependent coverage is included in calculating whether the employer-offered health insurance is “affordable.”
We Are Here To Help.
A consultation costs nothing. Contact us today to see how we can help provide coverage for you, your family, or employees.