Everything you need to know about the Affordable Care Act, Open Enrollment and how they affect your church

Despite several well-known exemptions provided to churches, based on First Amendment protections, not all ministries are exempt from all facets of the ACA. Depending on the number of employees working for your church, different requirements may come into play.

What is the difference between a large employer and a small employer?


The threshold, at which point a small employer is considered a large employer, is 50 employees. Depending on where your ministry falls, you will have some different considerations.

Some key differences:

Large employers are required to offer affordable insurance options to all of their employees deemed full-time. There are a couple of distinctions that need to be made here.

1) "Affordable" is defined as being no more than 9.5% of the employees’ annual income.
2) "Full-time". One is considered full-time if they work 30 hours or more in an average week.
If your church falls into this category, then you can be subject to a fine of $3,000 per employee!

For ministries with fewer than 50 full-time staffers, there is not a requirement to provide health insurance. However, if they do, it must meet the same guidelines as a large employer.

In most cases, these smaller organizations would simply refer their people to the Healthcare Marketplace, where they will simply be required to register for health insurance as an individual.
In these instances, it is not uncommon for employers to bring in an expert on the ACA to advise their employees on how to navigate the system, which is understandably confusing and complex. If your organization is interested in having an expert advisor consult your employees on the matter, please click here to schedule a consultation.

The ACA is a new, complex, and often times, frustrating law, which is why RH Sims Insurance has partnered with Rick Kent of Creative Insurance Solutions. Rick brings expert-level knowledge of the Affordable Care Act. This partnership will enable our clients to navigate the health insurance landscape.


To speak with Rick, or one of our other ministry insurance consultants, click here.

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