President Joe Biden has signed two bills that will ease some Affordable Care Act health coverage reporting requirements for employers.
One is the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act, and the other is the Employer Reporting Improvement Act bill.
The new laws affect the Form 1095-B and Form 1095-C notices that employers use to tell employees and the Internal Revenue Service about employees’ health benefits.
The Employer Reporting Improvement Act was introduced by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.
The act will let employers provide the coverage notices electronically, and it will make it easier for employers to use people’s birthdates in place of Social Security numbers when the Social Security numbers are missing.
Other provisions will increase the minimum time employers have to respond to IRS warning letters about health insurance reporting failures to 90 days, from 30 days, and impose a six-year time limit on when the IRS can try to collect assessments related to health benefits reporting failures.
The second new law, the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act, was introduced by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo.
The IRS has already been letting employers make 1095-B forms available upon request, rather than requiring employers to send the forms to all employees.
The act will make the IRS approach law. It will also let employers choose to make 1095-C forms available only upon request.
Jenny Gartman, a blogger for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, said one question is whether the two new laws will apply by Jan. 31, 2025. “Employers should check with their reporting vendors (if any) or with their service providers on timelines and next steps,” Gartman said.