Since President Trump took office just under two years ago, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been the center of debate and more often, confusion. Though the proposed repeals and modifications to the American healthcare system have died down in recent months, health care is still a hot-button issue in this year’s midterm elections.
With tax season and last year’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) deadlines in the rear view mirror, you may be tempted to take a break from employee tracking. But if the ACA penalty letters currently being assessed by the IRS aren’t enough to keep your guard up, perhaps a look at last year’s most common ACA filing mistakes can reinforce the importance of ongoing tracking and compliance.
“I just received a $3 million penalty from the IRS for noncompliance with the Affordable Care Act.”
That’s just one of many similar, eye-opening statements we heard last month at SHRM18, the Society for Human Resource Management’s annual conference.
While health benefits are just one facet of HR covered at SHRM, the reality of million dollar noncompliance penalties put health care in the spotlight and had lots of people talking.
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rolled into town, a lot of things changed for employers, regardless of their industry. However, there are a few types of employers that are given special rules under the ACA. Educational organizations are one of them.
While employers just wrapped up the third year of ACA reporting, there are still challenges that educational organizations encounter when it comes to tracking employees and offers of health coverage.
Regulatory compliance costs the health care industry upwards of $200 billion annually, according to a recent report from the American Hospital Association. With most health care compliance issues related to patient safety, privacy of patient information, and billing practices, Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance and reporting may not be top of mind.
The IRS has proposed a new regulation to expand mandatory e-filings and require more employers to e-file specific employee forms, including the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) 1095-B and 1095-C. An amendment to the current e-filing regulations, the proposed rule would change employer requirements by considering the aggregate number of employee forms across all types, which have been treated separately in past years.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is complex, which is why many employers turn to benefits brokers to help them understand their obligations under the law. Despite the time and effort brokers have put into educating clients on ACA reporting, thousands of applicable large employers (ALEs) are receiving penalty letters stating they didn’t comply with ACA rules.
As a broker, what is your responsibility to clients that received these notices and are seeking assistance and guidance?
Last November, the IRS began sending out Letter 226-J to applicable large employers (ALE) that were subject to employer shared responsibility penalties (ESRP) for their 2015 Affordable Care Act (ACA) filings. Letter 226-J does give employers the opportunity to refute the assessed penalty amount using Form 14764, and many are taking advantage of this opportunity.
This has been an ongoing and confusing process for employers, and now a new step in the penalty process has been added—IRS Letter 227, which is related to the employer’s initial response. Letter 227 is sent by the IRS to either close an employer’s penalty inquiry or provide next steps to the employer.
Applicable large employers (ALEs) have just completed the third year of Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting. Until now ACA compliance activities such as tracking employees, offering appropriate benefits, and reporting to the IRS have generally fallen on HR departments. In many instances, employers may receive assistance from a trusted advisor like a benefits broker or CPA.
The final deadline for Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting was on April 2. Are you an applicable large employer (ALE) that missed this e-filing deadline for ACA Forms 1094-C and 1095-C?