Menu Close

Tag: employer mandate

Employer Mandate

As part of the health care reform law, beginning in 2015, certain employers with 50 or more “full-time equivalent” employees (FTEs) who do not provide affordable health care coverage may be assessed a penalty if at least one full-time employee qualifies for a premium tax credit and uses it to purchase coverage in the health insurance exchange. Additionally, the law requires employers to provide prescribed health coverage while, at the same time, penalizing some employers who may fail to offer what is defined by the law as “affordable” coverage.

The employer mandate provides two deterrents for business growth. First, the employer mandate discourages small businesses from hiring additional employees because only businesses with 50 or more FTEs may be penalized for not offering the prescribed coverage. Second, the employer mandate penalty, once triggered, is calculated based on the number of full-time employees.

Further, for the first time, this new law defines a full-time employee as someone who works 30 hours per week, averaged over the course of a month, rather than the traditional definition of 40 hours per week.

Employers want to offer health insurance to their employees and want to continue to grow and create jobs. However, the employer mandate threatens to penalize businesses for failing to offer affordable coverage, when—more than ever—people need jobs and employers need help growing and should be encouraged to hire more employees. This law does the opposite at a dangerous time.

Read the full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

[contact-form subject=’Website inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Company Name’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Obamacare Ruling Could Affect Employer Mandate, Local Broker Says

A federal court decision Tuesday that throws into question government subsidies provided through the federal insurance exchange doesn’t affect California directly, but it could have an impact on Affordable Care Act funding through employer fines, a local insurance broker says.
If the subsidy no longer exists, the trigger for fines on employers whose workers qualify for those subsidies is gutted, said Carolyn Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Association of Health Underwriters.
The employer mandate has been delayed until 2015 for employers with more than 100 workers — and 2016 for those with 50 to 99 — but business owners will be on the hook for as much as $3,000 per employee if at least one full-time worker shops in an exchange and qualifies for a subsidy.

Read the full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

[contact-form subject=’Website inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Company Name’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Draft IRS Information Reporting Forms Available for Employers and Insurers

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released initial drafts of forms to be used in reporting health insurance coverage offered by applicable employers, and minimum essential coverage by insurers and employers of self-insured plans. The IRS has posted the draft forms at IRS.gov/draftforms as information only, and will post final versions for actual filing at a later date. Instructions for these forms are expected to be issued later this summer.

These transmittal and reporting forms were noted in the Final Rules released on March 5, 2014, which we alerted on March 7. The first reporting is required in early 2016 for the 2015 calendar year, however employers are encouraged to voluntarily report coverage information in 2015 for the 2014 calendar year.

Reporting on the Individual Mandate

Insurers and employers of self-insured plans (regardless of size) must report annually to both the IRS and any individual named in the report whether the individual had minimum essential coverage. It is the means by which the IRS can confirm such individuals have complied with the “individual mandate.” When employers self-insure their plans, they may report on compliance with both the individual and employer mandates on one form.

Reporting on the Employer Mandate

Employers with 50 or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) need to report on all of the employees offered coverage during the prior calendar year. This information must be provided to the IRS and all employees identified as being offered employer-sponsored health coverage.

Draft Forms

Insurers and employers have two forms they must provide the IRS. Each must provide a form that serves as a cover letter as well as forms providing data on the individual or employer mandate. The forms are to be completed and filed as follows:

Employers will file Form 1094-C (a transmittal/cover sheet) to the IRS only, and Form 1095-C to both the IRS and named individuals. If its plan is insured, the employer will only complete Parts I and II of Form 1095-C.

Insurers will send Form 1094-B (a transmittal/cover sheet) to the IRS only, and Form 1095-B to both the IRS and named individuals for insured coverage only.

Sign up for Cosby IG’s “Important ACA Updates Newsletter” and we will update information as future guidance and final rules are released and when instructions and revised or final forms are made available, we will keep you informed. Feel free to contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

[contact-form subject=’Website inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Company Name’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Obamacare’s Employer Mandate is Under Attack From Both Sides. Will it Survive?

Critics of the health care law, including many business owners, have long bemoaned a provision that requires employers to provide health coverage to their workers. Now, some of the law’s supporters are starting to call for the rule’s elimination, too. “Repeal of the employer mandate might, in fact, not be such a bad idea,” Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University and vocal supporter of the Affordable Care Act, wrote this week in a column for Health Affairs.
In simplest terms, the employer mandate, as it has become known, requires firms with at least 50 workers to offer affordable, comprehensive health insurance to every full-time worker. If they don’t, they face fines of up to $2,000 per employee.

Read full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
[contact-form subject=’Website inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Company Name’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rejects Contraceptives Mandate for Some Corporations

The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-to-4 decision on Monday that requiring family-owned corporations to pay for insurance coverage for contraception under the Affordable Care Act violated a federal law protecting religious freedom.

The decision, which applied to two companies owned by Christian families, opened the door to challenges from other corporations to many laws that may be said to violate their religious liberty.

The coverage requirement was challenged by two corporations whose owners say they try to run their businesses on religious principles: Hobby Lobby, a chain of crafts stores, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which makes wood cabinets.

The health care law and related regulations require many employers to provide female workers with comprehensive insurance coverage for a variety of methods of contraception. The companies objected to some of the methods, saying they are tantamount to abortion because they can prevent embryos from implanting in the womb. Providing insurance coverage for those forms of contraception would, the companies said, make them complicit in the practice.

Read full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
[contact-form subject=’Website inquiry’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Company Name’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]