Cali businesses get ACA extension

Businesses in California with fewer than 50 employees have been granted an extra year to obtain health care coverage that meets Affordable Care Act requirements.

The ACA mandates that all health plans provide 10 essential benefits, including hospitalization, prescription drugs, maternity care and mental health treatment. Originally, small-business owners—at least, those who purchased health insurance for workers by Dec. 31, 2013—had until the end of this year to meet those requirements. But on July 7, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1446 into law, effectively giving small businesses until the end of 2015 to renew health coverage, according to California Healthline. If plans do not meet the ACA’s standards by that date, they will be canceled.

Organizations such as the California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, while generally supportive of the bill, still have concerns about the short window in which businesses can obtain coverage.