Comments Requested On PPACA Employer Mandates

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (together, the "Act") overhauled much of the country's health care financing system and marked the beginning of a new era of comprehensive federal health care regulation. Where employers and employer-sponsored group health plans are concerned, compliance with the Act initially focused on reforms in the insurance markets and "grandfathered" plans. Recently issued Notice 2011-36 moves beyond the Act's insurance market reforms to focus on (and invite comments in connection with) certain of the Act's provisions that affect employers directly. These provisions include:

• Auto-enrollment. Rules requiring employers with more than 200 full-time employees that offer group health plan coverage to automatically enroll employees in their group health plans.