Employers Must Move Ahead for 2017
For Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) and all self-insured employers, the message is clear – it is time to move ahead, and that means compliance and reporting according to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as it is currently written continues. The efforts to repeal and replace ACA have failed. Employers must face reality and continue to be compliant or face the consequences.
The ACA requires applicable large employers (ALEs) to offer appropriate and affordable health coverage to their full-time employees who work an average of 30 or more hours per week (or an average of 130 hours per month).
Compliance and Reporting
Requirements Continue
For compliance and reporting, employers are also required to track the hours worked of part-time and variable hour employees to determine if they should be offered coverage like all other full-time employees. Employers should be tracking part-time/variable hour workers and preparing to offer insurance coverage to those that qualify. For many employers, open enrollment is around the corner, and accurate tracking data is a must.
Forward-thinking: The Employer Shared Responsibility rule of the ACA requires employers to file annual information returns with the IRS and send summary statements (1095s) to verify the “minimum essential coverage” as mandated by ACA is being met. Employers should be working with all involved departments, reviewing employee data, ensuring any errors are corrected, and making preparations for reporting 2017 data to the IRS on 1095s and the 1094 transmittal.
At this point, employers should NOT modify any of their ACA processes on the hunch that the law might still be changed. ACA remains in effect, as do the laws that address penalties for non-compliance and employer assessments.
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Confident you’re on the right track for ACA employer compliance and reporting for 2017? Need to switch ACA vendors for better service and perhaps even better pricing? Contact Us! You may be able to switch for no-to-low onboarding fees.
