A minimum essential coverage plan provides the basic preventive coverage that satisfies the individual mandate and helps a large employer avoid the larger employer mandate penalty. On its own it offers limited benefits and little protection against major medical costs.
Not by itself. Offering MEC to at least 95% of full-time employees avoids the larger no-offer penalty, but a bare MEC plan that is unaffordable or lacks minimum value can still trigger the smaller penalty when an employee gets a subsidized Marketplace plan.
A Minimum Essential Coverage plan provides the baseline preventive coverage that satisfies the ACA’s coverage definition. Larger employers sometimes use thin MEC plans to manage employer-mandate penalties.