See www.moranlong.com for additional insights and planning suggestions for health care and retirement.
By:
Mark J. Mazur, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of
the Treasury, issue date 7/2/2013
Over the past several months, the
Administration has been engaging in a dialogue with businesses - many of which
already provide health coverage for their workers - about the new employer and
insurer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We
have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more
time to implement them effectively. We recognize that the vast majority
of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health
insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to
do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking
action.
The
Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the
ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin. This is
designed to meet two goals. First, it will allow us to consider ways to
simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law. Second,
it will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while
employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible
for their employees. Within the next week, we will publish formal
guidance describing this transition. Just like the Administration’s
effort to turn the initial 21-page application for health insurance into a
three-page application, we are working hard to adapt and to be flexible about
reporting requirements as we implement the law.
Here
is some additional detail. The ACA includes information reporting (under
section 6055) by insurers, self-insuring employers, and other parties that
provide health coverage. It also requires information reporting (under
section 6056) by certain employers with respect to the health coverage offered
to their full-time employees. We expect to publish proposed rules
implementing these provisions this summer, after a dialogue with stakeholders -
including those responsible employers that already provide their full-time work
force with coverage far exceeding the minimum employer shared responsibility
requirements - in an effort to minimize the reporting, consistent with
effective implementation of the law.
Once
these rules have been issued, the Administration will work with employers,
insurers, and other reporting entities to strongly encourage them to
voluntarily implement this information reporting in 2014, in preparation for
the full application of the provisions in 2015. Real-world testing of
reporting systems in 2014 will contribute to a smoother transition to full
implementation in 2015.
We
recognize that this transition relief will make it impractical to determine
which employers owe shared responsibility payments (under section 4980H) for
2014. Accordingly, we are extending this transition relief to the
employer shared responsibility payments. These payments will not apply
for 2014. Any employer shared responsibility payments will not apply
until 2015.
During
this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or
expand health coverage. Also, our actions today do not affect employees’
access to the premium tax credits available under the ACA (nor any other
provision of the ACA).
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