NEWS FLASH

Massachusetts Health Care Law Increased Employer Based Coverage | Seventy-seven percent of Massachusetts employers offered coverage to their employees last year, up from 70 percent in 2005, the year before the passage of the state’s health care reform legislation, a survey by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy finds. “Under the 2006 law, employers with at least 11 employees are assessed an annual fine of $295 for each full-time employee that is not offered qualified coverage.” The Affordable Care Act doesn’t require employers to offer coverage, but stipulates that larger businesses have to pay a fine if their workers receive subsidized coverage from the exchanges.