Employer Mandate

Posted August 13th, 2019 in Employers, Producers

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) submitted an inquiry to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) earlier this year asking two very specific questions. She wanted to know if penalties related to the Employer Mandate could be reduced or waived if it would cause a hardship on an employer. She also wanted to know if the IRS would extend the transition relief that was previously available to employers with 50-99 employees. Previous transition relief exempted most employers of this size from the Employer Mandate during its first year of implementation in 2015.

Posted August 6th, 2019 in Employers, Producers

The Internal Revenue Service recently released Revenue Procedure 2019-29 which included details on the affordability percentage related to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as the Employer Mandate. In 2020, an applicable large employer (ALE) will be considered to offer affordable coverage to its full-time employees if the cost of coverage is 9.78% or less of the employee’s household income.

Posted June 14th, 2019 in Producers, Employers, Individuals

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released new guidance on June 13, 2019 which permit a new type of Health Reimbursement Arrangement, referred to as an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA).

Posted June 11th, 2019 in Employers, Producers

The Employer Mandate requires applicable large employers (ALEs), which are defined as employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees in the preceding year to offer health insurance to full-time employees. Generally, at least 95% of full-time employees must be offered health insurance. 

Posted April 15th, 2019 in Employers, Producers

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is continuing to send Letter 226J to employers for which the agency believes an Employer Mandate penalty is due. Currently, these notices are being sent to employers for penalties that apply to the 2016 calendar year.

Posted January 3rd, 2019 in Employers, Producers

Whether it be to inflation adjustments, new laws, tweaks to existing regulations or other reasons, each new year brings changes to health plans and other benefits. Here is a summary of 10 important changes taking effect in 2019.

1) There will be no penalty under federal law if you don’t have health insurance. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made the cost for not having health insurance $0 starting in 2019.

Posted September 18th, 2018 in Employers, Producers

The Employer Mandate regulations refer to seasonal employees and seasonal workers, and yes, there is a difference. Let’s break this down as simply as possible by starting with a few refresher points.

Posted May 29th, 2018 in Employers, Producers
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Revenue Procedure 2018-34 which includes details about the affordability percentage related to the Employer Mandate for the upcoming year. In 2019, coverage will be considered affordable if the employee’s share of the premium for self-only coverage is no more than 9.86% of their household income. As most employers don’t know the household income of their employees, three alternative safe harbor methods may be used:
 
Posted November 22nd, 2017 in Producers, Employers

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated its Questions and Answers website in regards to the Employer Mandate, and it appears they have started to send initial notices to employers who are subject to a penalty for the 2015 year (generally, this will be employers with 100 or more employees since transition relief was available in 2015 to employers with 50-99 employees).

Posted November 7th, 2017 in Producers, Employers

The original version of this article was published on January 15, 2016. It has been updated annualy to account for inflationary changes. 

 

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