What is a "stability period" under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)? (2024)

FAQs

What is a "stability period" under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)? ›

What is a "stability period" under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)? For the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the short answer is that a “stability period” is the period you are guaranteed coverage.

A measurement period to look back at hours worked over the course of at least three months but no longer than 12 months to determine if an employee averaged at least 30 hours per week.

Signed into law on March 23rd, 2010, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is also known as healthcare reform. Healthcare reform is not health insurance. Healthcare reform is law that makes changes to the insurance system. These changes help many more people get health coverage.

Under the MMM, an employee is considered “full-time” for any given month if he or she works an average of 30 hours of service per week for the month, or a total of 130 hours of service for the month, which the IRS considers to be equivalent standards.

A variable hour employee may not have more than 1560 hours in a rolling year or work more than 130 hours/month for a period equal to or greater than 3 consecutive months or 12 weeks.

The measurement period can be three to 12 months, with a subsequent stability period that generally cannot be shorter than six months or, if longer, the length of the measurement period.

The PPACA provides low–income persons greater access to health coverage by expanding the Medicaid program (known as Medi–Cal in California). The new federal law also establishes a temporary high–risk insurance pool that will allow persons with preexisting medical conditions to purchase coverage.

The comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010 to make affordable health insurance available to more people, expand Medicaid, and support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.

The Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, reaffirms that every life has value and stops individual Americans from being reduced to mere dollars and cents on a spreadsheet. An individual has worth, regardless of someone's age or whether they have a disability or other chronic ailment,” said Chair Smith.

the patient protection and affordable care act was an act proposed by the obama administration in order to expand healthcare coverage and access to all americnas while improve quality and reducing costs.

What is the stability period of the ACA? ›

Initial Stability Period: 12 months, beginning after the end of the initial administrative period (i.e., begins 13 months—plus a partial month for a mid-month hire—after date of hire). March 15, 2024 Hire Date Example: Runs from May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026.

Definition of Full-Time Employee

For purposes of the employer shared responsibility provisions, a full-time employee is, for a calendar month, an employee employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week, or 130 hours of service per month.

The income range is $30,000 to $120,000 in 2024 for a family of four. (Income limits may be higher in Alaska and Hawaii because the federal poverty level is higher in those states.) The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 also extended subsidy eligibility to some people earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level.

30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours), OR.

1560 Hours is 65 Days.

What is the working week? Under Australian laws, employees work up to 38 hours in a week, or 7.6 hours (7 hours, 36 minutes) each day.

Measurement Period

The measurement period is the span of months during which an employee's hours of service are measured. using the Look-back method to determine whether that employee qualifies as full-time.

Conclusion: An employer no longer has the discretion to determine whether an employee is a new hire or a rehire. An individual rehired after a break in service of less than 13 weeks is considered to be a continuing employee.

From the monthly measurement method to the look-back measurement method, the change can be made anytime. If you make this change, you cannot discontinue coverage for employees who were eligible under the monthly method but now are ineligible after the look-back measurement test.

90-day Waiting Period Limitation. PHS Act section 2708 provides that a group health plan or health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage shall not apply any waiting period that exceeds 90 days.