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Employers cannot simply give employees extra money to buy individual health insurance — whether through health reimbursement arrangements, health flexible spending arrangements or just plain cash — and expect to avoid “shared responsibility” penalties, the IRS with the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services said in new frequently asked questions about the […]
The next three months are crunch time. Employers have to get moving on several deadlines, most of them required under health care reform. Some reform rules should have taken effect in 2014, but were subject to the year-long delay instituted by the Obama administration. Health Plan Identifiers Nov. 5, 2014 is the deadline for large group […]
Only self-insured plans that completely self-administer claims payments and plan operations will avoid paying onerous transitional reinsurance fees. If a self-insured health plan does no more than determine eligibility, it will have to pay, according to Jeffrey Endick, an attorney with Slevin & Hart in Washington D.C. An exception exists to the onerous fee $63 per-member-per-year fee: Self-insured […]
Employers deciding how to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s reporting requirements have important housekeeping questions to decide, such as: (1) who will take phone calls from the IRS and employees about ACA forms; (2) whether electronic filing (for the IRS) and transmittal (to employees) is needed; and (3) which workers have coverage that was […]
New guidance from the IRS proposes new approaches to the application of the look-back measurement method, which employers use to determine if an employee is full-time or part-time for purposes of the employer mandate. Notice 2014-49 covers situations such as when an employee transfers from a position (such as hourly) using one measurement period to […]
IRS officials described when employers themselves have to fill out full information on all health plan enrollees along with months enrolled, and when employers can hand that over to another entity, such as an insurer. Most employers offer minimum essential coverage to employees; the purpose of Section 6055 reporting is to demonstrate that they are […]
IRS on Aug. 29 issued two sets of questions and answers about reporting on health coverage for large employers under Section 6056 and for all employers under Section 6055 of the reform law. Section 6056 reporting is required by “applicable large employers” that provide health coverage to their full-time employees and is needed for the government to carry out […]
Employer preparation for preparing for health care reform’s pay-or-play provisions, especially data reporting (under Sections 6055 and 6056) to the IRS, can be complicated by: (1) changes in workers’ employment status (from part-time to full-time); (2) an organization’s switching from one measurement method to another; and (3) the structure of controlled groups and subsidiaries, speakers […]
The IRS has issued final/temporary and proposed rules, and a raft of guidance and draft forms related to reporting requirements for employers and individuals under health care reform. The rules and guidance are designed to help individuals and businesses calculate both their penalties if they don’t have health coverage, and subsidies, if they are eligible, […]
A single individual who failed to get health insurance will face a tax penalty of no more than $204 for each month he or she lacked coverage in 2014, the IRS announced on July 25. The maximum amount for a family with five or more members is $1,020 in 2014, the agency says in Rev. […]