Affordable Care Act
Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) have become one of the hottest new employee benefit programs. LSAs are sometimes referred to by other names, such as Personal Spending Accounts or some even refer to them simply as Wellness Programs. There could be a slew of other names, but we refer to them as LSAs.
Grandmothered plans are the name commonly used for health insurance plans in the individual and small group markets that were issued after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law (March 23, 2010) and before the so-called full implementation date of the law (January 1, 2014).
Many types of telemedicine coverage eliminate the ability for a person enrolled in a qualified high deductible health plan (HDHP) to make contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA).
President Jospeh Biden has issued an executive order instructing the Department of Treasury (DOT) to review regulations that pertain to subsidy eligibility on the Health Insurance Marketplace (Marketplace). The primary purpose of the executive order is to determine if regulatory changes can be made to fix the so-called “family glitch.”
On June 28, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed new rules that would primarily impact individual health plans that are sold through Health Insurance Marketplaces. The proposed rules aim to lengthen the annual enrollment period, expand Navigator duties, and minimize any burden or confusion for consumers. A summary of some of the key provisions has been outlined below:
Earlier this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as Obamacare. The entire ACA continues to remain as the law of the land.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created two reporting requirements which are spelled out in Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056.
Section 6055 requires every provider of minimum essential coverage to report information of those employees and dependents who enroll in coverage. Reporting this information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still required even though the Individual Shared Responsibility penalty (i.e. Individual Mandate) is $0.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) today. The underlying issue to be heard is whether the elimination of the Individual Mandate penalty now invalidates some, all, or none of the law. One of the following outcomes is likely to occur:
The Employer Mandate guidelines state that coverage is affordable when an employee has to pay no more than 9.5% of their household income (inflation-adjusted to 9.83% for the 2021 plan year) for self-only coverage which is offered, but which employers know the household income of an employee? As a result, there are three alternative methods that an employer can rely upon when determining if the coverage they offer is affordable. These methods are explained below and some general examples of how to apply each method have also been provided.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2020-76 with information pertaining to the upcoming reporting required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The following information was included in the notice: