Affordable Care Act requires timely employer compliance

In a lengthy but straightforward opinion, on June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) core provision; the individual mandate. The Court also upheld PPACA’s expansion of Medicaid, but struck down PPACA’s “draconian” penalty permitting the government to withhold all federal Medicaid funding from any state not expanding its Medicaid program.

The ruling means that all PPACA provisions employers and their insurance carriers have already implemented, continue in effect. And, barring successful Congressional action to repeal PPACA, employers should revisit and prepare for the following upcoming events: