President Obama signed a bill, HR 1473 repealing a provision that would have required employers to offer certain low-wage employees company-paid vouchers to use when buying coverage in state health insurance exchanges. This legislation repeals the 2014 provision that would have required employers to offer low-wage employees company-paid vouchers to buy coverage in state health insurance exchanges.

Under the provision, employers would have been required to offer vouchers to employees with household incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level and whose premium contributions were between 8 percent and 9.8 percent of their household income. The value of the voucher would have been equal to what their employer would have paid if the employees enrolled in a plan with the largest employer premium contribution. Employees then could have used the voucher to buy coverage in an exchange and keep the difference in cash, if the plan purchased was less. This bill will help keep the private insurance market viable by maintaining a level playing field.

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