The Facts About ACA Reporting Requirements
The time to start preparing for ACA reporting requirements was yesterday…
If you have not started, don’t worry, however the time is definitely now. Reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were delayed for a year, however, the IRS issued their final regulations in March of this 2014. Employers will now be required to gather data beginning in 2015 and submit the first set of informational returns in 2016. On July 24, 2014, the IRS issued draft forms for employers to transmit the required data.
Here are some of the highlights …
Self-insured plans
An employer that offers a self-insured plan will be required to submit annual returns to the IRS identifying who is covered. If the employer offers a fully insured group health plan, the health insurance issuer is required to submit the returns. The employer needs to make sure each employee gets a copy of the return by January 31, 2016, and that you submit all returns on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C with the IRS by February 28, 2016 (if filed on paper – March 31 if filed electronically). Some of the data you’ll need to keep track of and report includes:
- Employer’s name, address, employer identification number (EIN), and a contact person
- Name and social security number (SSN) – or date of birth if SSN is not available – of each employee and each spouse or dependent of the employee who is covered
- The months of the calendar year during which each individual was covered
- Full-time and total employee counts by month
- Whether the employer is part of an aggregated group at any time during the year
Large employer plans
If you’re a large employer subject to the “play or pay” requirements, you’ll be required to report annually to the IRS on any employee who was full-time for one month or more (working an average of 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month), whether that person was offered health coverage, and if so, the lowest amount the employee could pay to get coverage that meets the minimum value requirements.
Given the complexity of the new reporting requirements, the level of data required to comply, and the fact that time is running out, employers will need to work quickly to make sure the appropriate systems and processes are in place by the end of the year to capture all of the required data beginning in 2015.
To learn more about the reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), attend our webcast on Thursday, April 16th, 2015 at 10:00am PST. Click here to register for the webcast.
Written by Neal J. Stehly, Senior Vice President of Benefits Division, Marrs Maddocks – Hub International Insurance Services, Inc.
