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Questions To Ask When Looking For A Minimum Essential Coverage Plan

February 25, 2021, by New City Insurance

group of people who are talking about their Minimum Essential Coverage PlanThere are many different types of health insurance plans available on the marketplace, and it’s important to know the differences between them. With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements making it mandatory for certain employers to offer access to affordable health care to full-time employees, it is pressing that you have an option available to avoid potential fees. One type of plan that can be a solution to this issue is a minimum essential coverage (MEC) plan. An MEC plan can ensure that you will not be responsible for fines associated with not providing coverage, while keeping your company within budget. Here are a few questions you should be asking when looking into a minimum essential coverage plan.

What Exactly Is A Minimum Essential Coverage Plan?

A minimum essential coverage plan is a type of plan that companies who have at least 50 full-time employees, also known as Applicable Large Employers (ALEs), obtain in order to protect themselves from two types of penalties associated with not offering coverage as dictated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

a busy office where the workers are covered with a Minimum Essential Coverage PlanThese two penalties are known as penalty A and penalty B. The fines incurred by employers have gone up just within the last year. These are the amounts for each penalty in 2021:

Penalty A: $225 per month ($2,700 annualized) per full-time employee minus the first 30
Penalty B: $338.33 per month ($4,060 annualized) per full time employee not offered “affordable coverage with “minimum value” who also goes onto the individual exchange and receives a tax credit

Penalty A is charged when an employer does not give the option for a minimum essential coverage to 95 percent of their full-time employees.

Penalty B applied when companies offer coverage to 95 percent of their full-time employees, but individually they were not provided with a minimum essential coverage option that qualified as affordable coverage with minimum value.

It is also important to note that penalty B is going to be capped at the maximum payment of penalty A. This means that penalty B will never be higher than penalty A.

These steep costs can easily be avoided by ensuring that you are offering an MEC plan to your employees. By simply covering your employees with this type of basic plan you will protect yourself and your company from having to pay these large sums of money as a penalty.

Questions To Ask When Looking For A Minimum Essential Coverage Plan

Like any insurance plan you are considering offering to your employees, it is going to be important that you do some research and look into the specifics of that plan. The best way to do this is to talk with an agent, since they should be very familiar with the options available and should be able to communicate with you about the details surrounding each plan. If you are considering an MEC plan, here are a few questions that you might have in order to get a full understanding.

Why Should I Offer A Minimum Essential Coverage Plan?

There are a few reasons that you would want to offer an MEC plan to your employees. The first, as stated above, is that it is going to make sure that you are covered and safe from having to pay any fines associated with the ACA requirements of providing coverage. The second reason is that you will be providing your employees a basic tier of coverage. This is going to help them feel secure with the knowledge that they have a plan with base level insurance coverage. The third reason that you should offer an MEC plan is that it is going to save you a lot of money compared to a lot of alternative plans. There are many options of plans that all fit within the ACA limitations, but an MEC plan is the lowest cost option that fits within those limitations.

Will All My Employees Receive Coverage?

a office team who has a Minimum Essential Coverage PlanSince 2014, the ACA has legally required employers with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees to offer their employees minimum essential coverage. To protect yourself from both penalty A and penalty B, it is required that all of your full-time employees enroll in your MEC plan (unless they can provide proof of coverage through another source other than the healthcare exchange).

Full-time employees are classified as anyone working an average of 30 hours in a week. If an employer is unable to know if a certain employee will meet this weekly requirement, then they can be calculated based on their monthly hours worked. Reaching 130 a month is enough to determine them as a full-time employee.

How Much Can I Expect To Pay?

The exact amount that each company is going to pay for this type of plan is going to vary based on a few different factors. Some of these factor are going to include:

  • How many full-time employees are on your payroll
  • Your specific insurance carrier
  • Your location

Overall, going with an MEC plan is going to massively reduce your expenses compared to almost any other coverage plan available.

Speak To The Experts At New City Insurance

Reach out to the professionals at New City Insurance for more information on minimum essential coverage health plans. Since our founding in 2008, we have been committed to serving the insurance needs of all of our clients, regardless of needs or budget. We also aim to reshape the industry as we know it.

If you are seeking basic health insurance coverage so that you can avoid the penalties associated with not having it, then the experienced team at New City can help you acquire a minimum essential coverage plan. We provide a variety of group health insurance plans, (including HMOs, PPOs, and EPOs) as well as dental and vision plans. We offer both high-premium and low-premium plans, so you can choose the option that is most affordable for you.

New City’s agents are also highly knowledgeable about healthcare laws and regulations such as the ACA and are dedicated to helping clients remain compliant with all them. Call New City Insurance today at (888) 210-2759 or contact us online to request a consultation.

Have Additional Questions?
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Filed Under: Insurance,  Minimum Essential Coverage

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As a rapidly expanding national media organization, the employee benefits strategy and administration that New City has provided us during our growth has been invaluable. They have been proactive about informing us of the different benefit strategies available to us as we grow as well as managing the additional compliance laws and reporting requirements at each stage of our growth.
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New City Insurance made navigating through all the health insurances super EASY. Their documents are highly informative, professional, and easy to work with. Thank you for making the process of choosing a health plan so simple. You guys are THE BEST!
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Jose Brena
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Eric Calciano has been extremely helpful in finding and selecting the right insurance coverage for our company. With many options out there Eric assisted us on getting a low cost provider saving more than 20% than from our competitors and providing excellent coverage for our employees.
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Signing up for insurance was quick and easy. Felicity Sundsboe
SFCC
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Jeff Stoltey and his team provide excellent customer service. Jeff has always provided my company SFCC with straightforward options. I went to a larger insurance company only to RUN BACK to Jeff at New City Insurance. I recommend them to anyone needing insurance without hesitation.
Kevin Luby
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Quick, easy & informative. We were able to secure quality insurance for our small business on a tight deadline. Thanks for the help New City.
Theresa Ruybol
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19:30 01 Jul 21
Eric was so great with us. He was very patient and kind as we are a newer smaller organization who is growing rapidly. With that said, we had made our inquiry, he had great rapid response and mostly had to wait on me. Any request that we made and/or questions we had, he was great answering and helping us understand. Then when we were ready for all documents and to move forward, Brendan helped with getting that together and the two of them worked their magic on New City's end to notify me of what was needed, assist me in that process and confirming that all was complete and approved for the coverage. I just want to say thank you all again so much, as insurance has always been confusing to me, and you all made that process go a lot smoother.Thank you
Andrea Ordendorff
Andrea Ordendorff
21:06 07 May 21
I've been working with both Clayton and Brendan for well over a year. As the purchase of our dental practice was delayed well over 14 months they both patiently supported me and continued to make themselves available. When we were officially ready to sign up they made the whole process seamless and super easy. This team is highly knowledgeable, professional, supportive, and efficient! I can't thank them enough for everything they've done.
T W
T W
22:32 30 Aug 20
I love New City Insurance. I never had a good experience dealing with insurance brokers until I started working with Brendan. He’s awesome! He is patient with me and takes the time to answer all my questions. I’m very grateful for all his help and hard work!
Mary Jane Deyette
Mary Jane Deyette
00:57 11 May 20
Jeff Stoltey is so awesome...even thru my company had only two employees, he took the time each year to research and find the best plan for us. The only reason I am leaving New City Insurance is because we no longer have any employees. Thank you Jeff
Alma Ortiz
Alma Ortiz
22:25 23 Feb 20
Brendan was awesome! I couldn't figure out how to pick my plan and he returned my call on a weekend to help me. Outstansing service!
jessica kavanagh
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19:53 13 Feb 20
Brendan was so helpful I definitely recommend him if you’re in need of good help and getting it done promptly. Thankyou so much again.
Tricia DeYoung
Tricia DeYoung
19:49 13 Feb 20
I was very thankful I inquired about this info. with Brendan. He was very helpful so I understand the benefits available much better now. Thank you Brendan.
B Bayer
B Bayer
17:43 24 Sep 19
NCI handled almost everything from start to finish. Clayton and Brendan made the plans easy to understand and walked me through the application process. They got me my ID numbers before my cards arrived so that I could keep an appointment I had already scheduled. My last broker wouldn't have done that. 5 stars!
Jessica Lehr
Jessica Lehr
03:36 07 Jun 19
Our staff was interested in a health plan, but we didn't know how beneficial a solid employee benefits package would be for our business to expand. We'd lose prospective employees because they had more options for their medical insurance which was sometimes more valuable than more pay. The New City team was amazing and gave us as many affordable options as possible so that everyone had their needs met.
Mike McClay
Mike McClay
19:36 03 May 19
My employer uses New City as their insurance broker, and I'm always amazed when I call in for assistance by how knowledgeable and attentive their staff is with my requests. Their online benefits platform makes selecting insurance plans pretty darn easy. I would highly recommend their services.
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