The IRS has released updated amounts for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) shared responsibility payments for the 2024 plan years.

As a reminder, there are two potential penalties under the ACA related to group health coverage: “Pay” and “Play”.

- The “Pay” penalty applies if an applicable large employer (ALE) does not offer all (or substantially all) full-time employees and their dependents minimum essential coverage and one full-time employee receives a subsidy in the Exchange.

  - The “Pay” penalty has been updated to $2,970 (multiplied by the number of full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in excess of 30) for 2024.

- The “Play” penalty applies if an applicable large employer (ALE) does offer minimum essential coverage to all (or substantially all) full-time employees, but that coverage is either unaffordable or does not provide a minimum value (60%), and one full-time employee receives a subsidy in the Exchange.

- The “Play” penalty has been updated to $4,460 (multiplied by the total number of full-time employees who receive the government subsidy in the Exchange) for 2024.

Employers should be sure to review their benefit plan offerings to ensure they are ACA compliant and do not run the risk of incurring these penalties.