Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Advisory: Final Regulations Implementing the Massachusetts Fair Share Premium Contribution Regulations Issued
10/13/2006
The recently enacted Massachusetts health care reform act imposes new health insurance mandates on both individuals and employers. The employer mandates include a "fair share" premium contribution requirement under which an employer with 11 or more full-time equivalent employees in the Commonwealth must either (i) make a "Fair and Reasonable Premium Contribution" to the health insurance costs of its employees, or (ii) pay to the Commonwealth an annual per employee "fair share" employer contribution of up to $295. A final regulation issued September 8, 2006 provides guidance on what constitutes a "Fair and Reasonable Premium Contribution" on the part of an employer. The fair share requirement takes effect October 1, 2006.
For details of the tests used in assessing whether an employer makes A Fair and Reasonable Premium Contribution please see this Mintz Levin Advisory.
