Affordable Care Act: It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint

Oddly enough, I train the same way for my half marathons as I train for healthcare reform: one foot in front of each other. Practice makes perfect. No matter how well or bad I finished a race I know I completed it. How did I get from start to finish? By having a plan and sticking to it. Business owners should be treating their compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) the same way I do training for a race. Yes, it’s scary and overwhelming. Extra Help is an employer, too, and we are dealing with these challenges like the other thousands of the applicable large employers (ALE) who face compliance or pay.

Now that it is 2015, every ALE needs to be tracking (monthly) a few things:

1. Hours worked to determine full time status,
2. Whether an offer of coverage was made, and
3. Employee’s share of the lowest-cost premium for (self-only) minimum value coverage.

Employers must report the total employee count and full time employee count in 2016 for the 2015 calendar year on Form 1095-C.

Have you seen what Form 1095-C looks like? Whew, it can give you a head ache! This form must be completed by employers and sent to each employee. Doing the above tracking will make the process easier in completing Form 1095-C. These forms are still in draft version as of October 15, 2014. There are also instructions (last updated August 28^th), which outlines descriptions of the sections to complete.

Train now, train monthly or ALE members will be subject to penalties for no reporting. Deadline for filing the forms is the same as that of W-2s (February 28^th or March 31^st if submitted electronically).

Contact us today to learn more about our solutions for your compliance.

For more information on reporting of health insurance coverage, visit http://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Employers/Questions-and-Answers-on-Reporting-of-Offers-of-Health-Insurance-Coverage-by-Employers-Section-6056.

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