Q: Did Obama’s executive actions on immigration include a $3,000 bonus to employers for each immigrant they hire instead of U.S. citizens?
A: Not exactly. In very limited cases, employers may avoid the Affordable Care Act’s penalty if they hire immigrants who are not eligible for health care subsidies. But the law bars employers from discriminating against employees based on eligibility.
Nancy Pelosi was playing a semantic word game when she claimed there “was not a delay of the mandate for the businesses” in the new health care law. That was in fact the effect of a decision announced recently by the Treasury.
A federal government website designed to help Americans understand the new health care law isn’t always helpful — or in some cases even accurate.
Take this question in the Q&A section for “small businesses."
Q: Am I required to offer insurance to my employees?
A: No. There is not a so-called “employer mandate” in the legislation.
That’s true if your definition of "small business" only covers firms with 49 or fewer employees; there’s no requirement that they provide coverage.