The ACA provision on automatic enrollment requires certain large employers (those with more than 200 full-time employees) to automatically enroll new full-time employees in one of the employer’s health benefit plans (subject to any legally permissible waiting period), and to continue the enrollment of current employees in a health benefit plan. It further requires notice and an opt-out opportunity for employees who have been automatically enrolled.
The Department of Labor had previously indicated that it intended to issue regulations on the automatic enrollment rules before 2014. In what will likely come as welcome relief to many large employers, Notice 2012-17 indicates that, in order to ensure coordinated guidance and a smooth implementation process, the DOL has concluded that regulations implementing the ACA’s automatic enrollment provisions will not be ready to take effect by 2014. Until such regulations are finalized, employers are not required to comply with these automatic enrollment provisions.
