Massachusetts Employer Medical Assistance Contribution

Massachusetts Employer Medical Assistance Contribution (EMAC) is used to fund health insurance programs.

There are some areas you should consider.

• What is the employer eligibility criteria

• How to opt your organization out of these taxes

• How to exclude individual employees

• How to override the contribution rate

• What wage basis rules they follow

Employer Eligibility Criteria

Employers subject to unemployment insurance are also subject to EMAC reporting requirements. Refer to the Massachusetts state tax authority website for guidance on the criteria, exemptions, and applicable rates.

Opt-Out Your Organization

There are cases where you want to exempt an organization from these taxes.

1. To opt-out at the payroll statutory unit (PSU) level, start the Legal Entity Calculation Cards task from your implementation project.

   Use the Legal Reporting Unit Calculation Cards task to opt-out at the tax reporting unit (TRU) level.

   Settings at the TRU level override those at the PSU level.

2. In Component Groups, select the Massachusetts state regional node.

   Create it if it doesn't already exist.

3. Select the State Disability calculation component.

4. In State Disability: Details, select Calculation Component Details.

5. Click Edit.

6. Expand State Disability Organization Information, and select Bypass collection as the self-adjustment method.

7. Click Save and Close.

Exclude Individual Employees

To exclude the liability for an individual employee:

1. Use the Calculation Cards task to open the person's Tax Withholding card for editing.

2. For the MA section of Regional, click Edit.

3. In Withholding Exemption, mark the person as exempt from state disability.

4. Click Save and Close.

Override the Contribution Rate

To change the rate:

1. To change these rates at the PSU level, start the Legal Entity Calculation Cards task from your implementation project.

   Use the Legal Reporting Unit Calculation Cards task to change this rate at the TRU level.

   Settings at the TRU level override those at the PSU level.

2. In Component Groups, select the Massachusetts state regional node.

   Create it if it doesn't already exist.

3. Select the State Disability calculation component.

4. In State Disability: Details, click Enterable Calculation Values on the Calculation Cards.

5. Create Create.

6. Select Medical Assistance Contribution Employer Rate as the display value.

7. Enter the new rate. For example, enter .34% as .0034.

Wage Basis Rules

Massachusetts EMAC rules follow the Massachusetts State Unemployment wage basis rules.

EMAC employer liabilities are accumulated using the state disability employer balances.