Under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, which employers are 'applicable large employers' subject to the coverage offer requirement?

Why C is correct

Under the Affordable Care Act, employer shared responsibility applies only to 'applicable large employers' - those whose workforce meets or exceeds the size threshold fixed in the statute, measured by counting full-time and full-time-equivalent employees. Smaller employers are outside the provision altogether. The New York Department of Financial Services regulates the coverage that New York-licensed insurers sell to satisfy this federal requirement, but the size test that triggers the duty belongs to the act itself.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) Employers below the statutory size threshold are not subject to the provision at all, whether or not they offer group coverage.
• B) A workforce of only part-time and seasonal workers would not itself make an employer applicable; the statute counts full-time and full-time-equivalent employees toward the threshold.
• D) A self-employed individual with no employees has no workforce to measure and no offer obligation under the provision.

Memory hook

Applicable large employer = size threshold met; small employers sit it out.