There is nothing in the federal regulations that says an employer must provide coverage to their employees. Employers, again with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, who do not offer their employees’ health insurance coverage could face a penalty of $2,000 per employee (but the employer can exempt the first 30 employees). If an employer offers coverage but it is not affordable (the health insurance costs the employee more than 9.5% of the employee’s income for self-only coverage), employers may face a penalty of $3,000 for each employee accessing subsidized coverage through the Exchange. The total penalty for not offering affordable coverage cannot exceed the penalty for not offering insurance coverage at all. Therefore, small employers with less than 50 FTEs would be exempt from this provision of the law.