On February 17th, 2022, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced S. 3673. This bipartisan bill will provide much-needed relief for employers seeking to comply with the reporting requirements under Section 6055 and 6056 for enforcement of the ACA’s individual and employer mandates. NAHU has long sought these reforms and we look forward to advancing this as a bipartisan solution to address the challenges being faced under the health-reform law.
The reporting requirements were finalized in March 2014 by the Treasury Department and IRS, and detail what health plan information all employers are required to report to the federal government annually for enforcement of the ACA’s individual and employer mandates. NAHU has repeatedly stressed concerns with these requirements, particularly their confusing and complicated nature for businesses of all sizes, and has worked with legislators to develop a commonsense solution to ease what has become an enormously expensive compliance burden.
S. 3673 will ease the administrative compliance of the reporting requirements for employers offering health insurance coverage to their employees. Specifically, the legislation would:
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* Establish a new voluntary prospective reporting system for employers to report to the IRS information about their health plans. Exchanges will use the federal data hub to access this data for individual verification for tax credits.
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* Require that employers report to the IRS only those employees (and/or their dependents) who are not receiving healthcare from their employer, greatly simplifying the requirement that all employees be reported.
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* Specify that information that would be reported would include name and employer identification, who has been extended an offer of minimum essential coverage, whether coverage meets minimum value and the affordability safe harbor, and months that coverage is available without waiting periods.
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* Allow employers to deliver reports to employees electronically without another consent form.
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* Instruct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the notifications, HHS appeals process and the prospective reporting system.
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* Require HHS to review the most recent tax filing for individuals automatically reenrolled in exchange-based coverage and adjust their tax credits accordingly.
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* Limit the IRS employer notification in accordance with regulatory and statutory norms.