On a national level, healthcare regulations and provisions have changed significantly since the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which took effect in 2014. This regulation altered the requirements that employers must follow. Therefore, it’s important to be familiar with the specific guidelines and make sure you are providing coverage that falls within the scope of minimum essential coverage. Here is a close look at MEC plans and why they might be the best option for your company.
Minimum Essential Coverage Definition
Minimum essential coverage (MEC) is the basic requirement of specific coverages by all health insurance plans as per the ACA. “Applicable Large Employers” (ALEs) are required to offer minimum essential coverage to employees in order to avoid paying penalties. An “ALE” is any company with at least 50 full-time equivalent employees. To be classified as a full-time employee, it is anyone who works more than 30 hours on average within a working week.
Minimum Essential Coverage Plans
Minimum essential coverage plans are plans that only meet minimum essential coverage requirements and offer little to no benefit beyond that. These plans tend to be very inexpensive and protect companies from ACA penalties.
Qualities A Plan Needs To Be Considered A Minimum Essential Coverage Plan
Minimum essential coverage plans are typically affordable precisely because they only cover preventive and wellness-related services. They do not cover benefits such as emergency services, prescription drugs, or maternity and newborn care.
Qualities To Have Before Getting An MEC Plan
An MEC Plan is not going to be right for everyone. There are a few items and qualifications that you need to consider about your specific company before you start looking into an MEC plan. Below are a few:
You Employ More Than 50 Employees
Typically, businesses offer MEC plans because they are required by law to offer health insurance coverage and want to keep their costs low. If your business is below 50 full-time equivalent employees, you aren’t required to offer insurance to your employees. If you are above 50 full-time equivalent employees, then you must offer health insurance and MEC plans could be a good option for you.
You Want To Save On Your Health Plan
One of the main functions of MEC plans is to save your business money. By keeping premiums extremely low, sometimes one tenth of the cost of a traditional health insurance plan, MEC plans allow your business the ability to offer coverage at a rate that is affordable to virtually all companies.
You Want To Avoid Penalties
With the Affordable Care Act requirements, it is important that you are paying attention to the regulations and making sure that you are providing coverage that is within these requirements. If you don’t do this, you could potentially be paying penalties that are extremely high. Penalties have increased in the year 2021 to around $2,500-$2,800 per year per employee that is not offered minimum essential coverage. While these fines seem really high, they can easily be avoided with the right coverage plan.
Talk With New City About Minimum Essential Coverage Plans
Reach out to the professionals at New City Insurance in San Diego for more information about minimum essential coverage plans. Since our founding in 2008, we have been dedicated to serving the insurance needs of our clients while reshaping the industry as we know it. Our agents are highly trained and extremely knowledgeable about proprietary benefits and employee management software.
If you are looking to purchase health insurance but are unsure about how to proceed, the team at New City can assist you with this process. We offer a variety of insurance plans, including an MEC plan, so we are sure to find the right fit for your company. We provide both high-premium and low-premium plans and can therefore cater to what you can afford.
Call New City Insurance today at (888) 210-2759 or contact us online to request a consultation or to learn more about our insurance plans, including our Minimum Essential Coverage plan options.