The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires large employers to offer affordable health insurance coverage to their full-time employees or face a penalty known as the “Pay or Play” tax. This tax is based on the employer’s average monthly wage (AMW) and the number of full-time employees. The affordability rate for employer-sponsored health coverage will increase from 8.39% to … Continued
SUMMARY ANNUAL REPORT DUE The Summary Annual Report (SAR) is a disclosure requirement under ERISA. The SAR acts as a narrative of the Form 5500 for employee benefit plans. It includes financial statements, funding requirements, and participants’ rights. The SAR must be provided to participants and enrolled beneficiaries within nine months after the end of the plan … Continued
ACA PREVENTIVE CARE MANDATE REMAINS IN PLACE WITH AN EXCEPTION In a recent decision, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that mandates private insurance cover preventive services without cost to patients. However, the court also ruled that the plaintiffs are exempt from complying with this mandate, … Continued
PREPARE NOW TO PAY THE PCORI FEE The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee funds research that evaluates and compares health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and the risks and benefits of medical treatments and services. Effective through 2029, the IRS treats this fee like an excise tax, applied to all covered lives, including employees, retirees, spouses, … Continued
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INFORMATION REPORTING Beginning in 2024, most employers obligated to report under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) must file returns electronically by March 31, 2024. Employers filing fewer than 10 returns a year are allowed to use paper filing. Since March 31 falls on a weekend, the deadline this year is April 1, … Continued
NEW EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATION RULE In January, the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division introduced a rule that changes the way workers are classified under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This Final Rule, effective March 11, 2024, offers a more comprehensive test to determine a worker’s status, potentially making it more challenging to classify … Continued
WORKPLACE POSTERS The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforces the posting of employee notices in the workplace to comply with various DOL statues. The posters are available for free in multiple languages. To determine which posters are needed for your business, the DOL FirstStep Poster Advisor can help. Employers can download and print the posters directly from … Continued
NEW ACA FAQS RELEASED The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Implementation FAQ Part 63, issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury focuses on the Public Health Service Act, which mandates that non-grandfathered group health plans and health insurance issuers provide culturally and linguistically appropriate summaries of benefits and coverage (SBC) … Continued
When the COVID-19 public health emergency and national emergency were declared in 2020, no one anticipated they would still be in place in 2023. On January 30, 2023, the President announced the intent to end the emergencies on May 11, 2023. The impact of the emergencies on employer-sponsored benefits affected certain coverages, reimbursements, and timelines. … Continued
By way of background, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study clinical effectiveness and health outcomes. To finance the Institute’s work, a small annual fee—commonly called the PCORI fee—is charged on group health plans. Grandfathered health plans are not exempt. Most employers do not have to take any … Continued
