If you have 51 or more eligible employees, you are considered large group per the ACA. There are two provisions of the ACA that apply only to applicable large employers (ALEs). Employer shared responsibility provisions and the employer information reporting provisions for offers of minimum essential coverage. Further note that interpretations of the ACA vary between insurance companies.

When I run quotes with more than one company, you may be considered large group with one company and maybe not with the other. I always recommend using the IRS’ definition of the ACA because this is where the penalties will come from. The determination of large group is a calculation and I’m going to provide a link.

The best advice I can give you in determining ALE (this is not your favorite brew!), this is Applicable Large Employers, be calculated by your payroll professional. Let me remind you again, we’re all dealing with Federal law, so it’s important that we do due diligence in determining whether we are large or small employer. Once that has been established, quotes can be generated for a host of options for you to select from.

I further recommend that we take into consideration the least compensated employee and the greatest compensated employee and be able to accommodate not only both ends of your payroll spectrum, but the bulk in the middle, therefore, based on our findings, it could be that I recommend that you select two or more plans for your offering. Please call me for a free consultation.