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The employer mandate was designed as a guard rail, to deter employers from dropping coverage and shifting workers to taxpayer-subsidized programs. It's expected to play only a supporting role in the expansion of coverage to millions of uninsured people.
Q: What's the impact of delaying the employer requirement?
A: The administration says it will give more time to work out the rules in a way that's fair to businesses. Reporting requirements that would allow the Internal Revenue Service to enforce the mandate turned out to be extremely complicated. Among the problems is that businesses have to keep track of employees' hours in a different way. Business groups were relieved to have another year.
However, the delay could also raise government costs and leave some workers uninsured.
Taxpayers would wind up paying more because some workers will get coverage through the new insurance marketplaces instead of through employers, and they'll be entitled to new tax credits to help with premiums.
Q: Why are Republicans objecting to a delay in a law they've been trying to repeal?
A: Democrats say the answer is clear: politics.
White House spokesman Jay Carney calls it "a nihilistic effort" to undermine the law, accusing Republicans of trying to take away benefits from millions of Americans "in the name of partisan political victory."
Republicans say they are calling attention to problems with the law that run counter to the administration's reassuring message that everything is on track.
"Clearly the rollout of Obamacare is in disarray," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means health subcommittee. The delay raises questions of whether the White House "is competent enough to administer its own massive health care law."
Q: How does Obama have the legal authority to delay a law just because rules aren't ready in time?
A: The Treasury Department - which oversees the IRS - says it is acting under long-settled authority to write the rules for carrying out laws passed by Congress. Additionally, a spokeswoman said the department has authority to grant "transitional relief" when major legislation is being introduced.
That may be so, critics say, but the delay is clearly not in keeping with the letter of the health care law.
"It is quite obvious, on its face, that this is not what Congress intended," said James Capretta, a health care expert with the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center.
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