Employer Shared Responsibility Solutions (ESRS) Bridges Compliance Gap for Smaller Businesses Subject to Affordable Care Act Mandates

HOUSTON, TX, April 10, 2013 (Press-News.org) As the various provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect, many businesses at the lower end of the "large employer" thresholds (50+ full time employees, or a combination of full and part time employees that equals at least 50) find themselves challenged to manage new compliance requirements while minimizing the impact on their bottom line. Generally speaking, the Employer Shared Responsibility provision, effective January 2014, specifies that large employers may be subject to a 'Play or Pay' penalty if they do not offer minimum essential health care coverage meeting federal minimum requirements. Employers may be subject to a 'Play and Pay' penalty, if an employee receives a tax credit through the exchange and the employer offering is deemed unaffordable or not meeting minimum value. Employer Shared Responsibility Solutions (ESRS) was launched in March 2013 to assist the HR operations of small to mid-sized businesses in collecting relevant data, calculating eligibility and affordability, analyzing the most business-effective approach, and providing customized reporting, exchange response, and penalty calculation. ESRS performs necessary data extraction and calculations, allowing benefits administrators and brokers to focus on their core business functions.

"A sizable proportion of businesses classified as 'large employers' don't look like major Fortune 500 companies," says Jim Adams, ESRS Founder and CEO. He continued, "Especially companies with 50 to 200 employees - they may have until recently been classified as small businesses and their human resources department could be a single employee. They have limited resources for compliance and benefits management, and ACA mandates have the potential to really stretch their limits. ESRS was established to provide a turnkey, value-driven compliance solution for these smaller 'large' businesses."

Adams illustrates a common situation with an example, "I am working with a small business that has been able to fly under the radar but now will need to address compliance issues because they have a large part time population that brings them just over the threshold. They have a lot of decisions to make. We are conducting preliminary eligibility and affordability tests for a larger employer that wants to know what they will face next year, and whether there are any adjustments that can be made now that will ease the transition."

Adams has deep experience in project management, human resources management and benefits administration. After two decades in project management, process improvement, client services, and human resources management systems, he founded LJPS Consulting in 2008. LJPS is a HRMS consultancy serving a diverse client base including energy and manufacturing companies. Employer Shared Responsibility Solutions was established as a specialized consultancy under the LJPS umbrella.

Adams urges businesses to determine plans for Employer Shared Responsibility compliance sooner rather than later. According to Adams, "The final rules go into effect January 2014, but data from 2013 will be used for calculations. To minimize any pain of transition, I strongly recommended businesses determine their compliance plans and begin active data collection by July 2013." Adams also advised a preliminary test population using 2012 or current data so that there are no surprises when the actual calculations are performed.

Employer Shared Responsibility Solutions (ESRS) gives employers and administrators a flexible, turn-key solution to comply with the Employer Shared Responsibility mandate of the Affordable Care Act. ESRS calculates FTE eligibility, determines affordability, and provides customized reporting, exchange response, and penalty calculation. For more information, contact Employer Shared Responsibility Solutions at 800-212-2638 or at info@employersharedsponsibility.com.

Website: http://www.employersharedresponsibility.com/