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 criterion

• How to opt out your organization

• How to exclude individual employees

• How to override the contribution rate

• What wage basis rules they follow

What is the employer eligibility criterion

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.

How to 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. Open the calculation card for editing.

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

   Create it if it doesn't already exist.

4. Select the State Disability calculation component.

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

6. Click Edit.

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

8. 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. Open the Massachusetts state component for editing.

3. In Withholding Exemption, select Exempt from wage accumulation and tax withholding for State Disability Insurance.

4. Click Save and Close.

How to 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.

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

3. Select the State Disability calculation component.

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

5. Click Create.

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

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

What wage basis rules it follows

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

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