Dive Brief:

• The Obama administration has made another revision to the implementation schedule for mandatory health coverage for workers, and it could benefit medium-sized contractors and builders.
• Companies that have between 50 and 99 full-time employees now have until 2016 before they have to choose between providing health insurance for employees or paying a fine for every uncovered worker.
• There also is a provision now for companies with 100 workers or more to avoid penalties until next year if they can show that at least 70% of their full-timers are being offered coverage.

Dive Insight:

The Obama administration wants workers to have health insurance coverage, but it is trying to get buy-in from employers by making concessions on the timing of the health-care law's provisions. After the IT headaches in trying to open the enrollment program for uninsured workers last year, there is not a lot of sentiment for giving the program the benefit of the doubt. However, 2016 is as far out as Obama can go on breaks for employers while he is still president.