The IRS’ Final Shared Responsibility Regulations: When Does Medicaid Eligibility Amount to “Minimum Essential Coverage”?

On August 30, 2013, the IRS published final regulations implementing the shared responsibility provisions of the ACA. The regulations address, among other matters, the complex question of when Medicaid eligibility amounts to minimum essential coverage (MEC) for purposes of the Act’s tax penalties. Because people with MEC are barred from receiving premium and cost sharing assistance for Marketplace plans, the final rules also have important implications in the area of health policy for children and adults with disabilities, who may need both basic insurance and supplemental Medicaid coverage for their more extensive health care needs. Many of Medicaid’s most important disability-related eligibility categories are optional with states and, therefore, monitoring whether and how agency policy on when Medicaid counts as MEC will be an important issue to watch over time.