Is my employer offering me ACA "Affordable" coverage or not?
As I understand it, the ACA requirement for “affordable” health insurance provided by an employer is that the employee’s part of the premium cannot be more than 8.39% of the employee’s annual income for 2024. Larger employees with lots of employees (mine qualifies) have to offer health insurance with a minimum level of coverage for no more than this cost to any employees who are technically full time (working more than 30 hrs a week) or they get penalized.
My employer’s benefits enrollment website offers me a rate for their most basic health insurance plan using this calculation:
Hourly Rate: $18.00
Hours Per Week: 40
Weeks Per Year: x 52
Deductions Per Year: / 52
Plan’s Percent Cost : x 0.0839
Employee Cost: $60.41
So my employer is attempting to offer the bare minimum legally required to still be compliant. Except, I work 32 hours a week, not 40. So technically, this would actually end up being more than 8.39% of my actual total annual income in my case, if I am paying $60.41 per week.
Is there some loophole that “annual income” is based on an assumed workweek of 40 hours and my employer’s plan is therefore still counted as affordable, or does it have to reflect my actual hours and annual income to still be ACA compliant?
Basically, does the price I am potentially being charged by my employer legally count as “affordable” under the ACA or not, taking into consideration the difference in assumed hours for their calculation as opposed to the actual hours I work?