# Minimum essential coverage

> Minimum essential coverage — The health coverage that satisfies the ACA — including an eligible employer-sponsored plan. An ALE must offer it to avoid the §4980H(a) payment, and California requires its residents to have it.

Source: https://lopifi.com/glossary/minimum-essential-coverage
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

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**What is minimum essential coverage?** In accounting, minimum essential coverage means the health coverage that satisfies the ACA — including an eligible employer-sponsored plan. An ALE must offer it to avoid the §4980H(a) payment, and California requires its residents to have it.

## Also known as

- MEC

## Words this system refuses for it

- any insurance
- minimum value (a separate test of the plan's richness)

- **Category:** Benefits
- **Specified in:** [Lexicon](https://lopifi.com/md/docs/domain/11-lexicon)