On October 1, 2015 the house and senate passed the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act and sent it to President Obama to sign.
Currently the Affordable Care Act (ACA) defines small employers with one to 50 employees. In 2016 the definition of a small employer will change to one to 100 employees. Therefore forcing employers with 51 to 100 employees into the small group market where they would face new coverage requirements. For many companies these new requirements would mean higher premiums.
Under the ACA, health insurance offered by a small group must meet certain requirements that large employers do not have to meet. These requirements include community rating, no medical underwriting and you must cover all ten categories of essential health benefits.
The PACE act would preserve the traditional definition of small group (1 to 50) but would allow states to expand to include employers with 51-to 100 if they wish to do.
The outcome should be known by the end of the month.