Affordable Care Act
2026
- The 2027 ACA Affordability Threshold is Rising to a Record 10.22% — Reset Employee Contributions Before Fall Open Enrollment
For Applicable Large Employers and sponsors of group health plans. The IRS has set the Affordable Care Act affordability threshold at 10.22% of household income for plan years beginning in calendar…
2025
- IRS Announces 2026 HSA Contribution Limits, HDHP Minimum Deductibles and HDHP Maximum Out-of-Pocket Amounts
The IRS has announced 2026 HSA and HDHP limits as follows: Annual HSA contribution limitation. For calendar year 2026, the annual limitation on deductions for HSA contributions under § 223(b)(2)(A)…
2023
- IRS Announces 2024 HSA Contribution Limits, HDHP Minimum Deductibles and HDHP Maximum Out-of-Pocket Amounts
The IRS has announced 2024 HSA and HDHP limits as follows: Annual HSA contribution limitation. For calendar year 2024, the annual limitation on deductions for HSA contributions under § 223(b)(2)(A)…
2021
- COVID Stimulus Bill provides Free COBRA Coverage
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) was signed into law by President Biden. The ARPA includes several significant health, pension funding, executive compensation and other…
- Employee Benefits Relief in the Year-End COVID-19 Stimulus Legislation
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133) (the “Act”) was passed by both houses of Congress on December 21, 2020, and signed into law by the President on December 27, 2020. The Act is an…
2019
- Departments of Labor, HHS and Treasury Clarify Application of Drug Manufacturer Coupons to Annual Cost Sharing Limitations
The recent final HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2020 (2020 NBPP Final Rule), addresses how direct support offered by drug manufacturers to enrollees for specific prescription brand…
- Final Rules Expand Availability of Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Other Account-Based Group Health Plans
On June 13, 2019 the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (the Departments) issued final rules that the Departments stated “will provide hundreds of thousands of…
- HHS Proposes to Revise ACA Section 1557 Nondiscrimination Rules
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing a proposed rule to revise regulations implementing and enforcing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Section 1557 prohibits…
- DC District Court Invalidates Significant Provisions of the DOL Association Health Plan Rules
On March 28, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found significant provisions of the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final rule expanding the availability of association health…
2018
- IRS Posts Explanation and Forms of Letters Used to Close Employer Mandate Inquiries
The IRS has posted an explanation of the various Letters 227, which the IRS will use to acknowledge the closure of an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP) inquiry, or to provide the next…
- IRS Releases Sample Notice CP 220J Notice of Assessment of Employer Mandate Penalty
The IRS has released a sample of Notice CP 220J, which the IRS will use to notify applicable large employers (ALEs) that it has charged them an employer mandate penalty under Code § 4980H for failure…
- Cadillac Tax Delayed to 2022
The legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on January 22, 2018 to continue funding the government through February 8, 2018 also delays the “Cadillac Tax” another two years. The…
- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Includes Employee Benefits Changes and Elimination of ACA Individual Mandate Penalty
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which the President signed into law on December 22, 2017 enacts significant tax reforms that include a number of employee benefits changes. Significant employee benefits…
2017
- IRS Will Begin Assessing 2015 Employer Shared Responsibility Payments in Late 2017
The Internal Revenue Service has issued some updated Q&As explaining how it will notify employers that it intends to assess employer mandate penalties for 2015. The new Q&As (
- IRS Notice 2017-67 Provides Guidance On Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements
IRS Notice 2017-67 provides guidance on the requirements for providing qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA) under section 9831(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), the…
2016
- Qualified Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements Permitted for Small Employers
The House and the Senate recently passed, and President Obama has signed, the “21st Century Cures Act”, which includes a provision exempting small employer health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)…
- Welfare Benefits Strategies For Small to Mid-Size Employers After The ACA
Lovitt & Touche’s Chris Helin has a great article out detailing two innovative approaches to dealing with the challenges posed to small and mid-sized businesses resulting from the continued rise in…
- OSHA Issues Final Rules for Handling ACA Retaliation Claims
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published a final rule establishing procedures, time frames and burdens of proof for handling whistleblower complaints under…
- IRS Releases 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan
The IRS has published its 2016–2017 Priority Guidance Plan containing 281 projects that are priorities for allocation of its resources during the twelve-month period from July 2016 to June 2017.…
- Significant Changes Proposed for Form 5500
On July 21, 2016 the Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) published proposed rules that would make significant revisions to…
- IRS Information Letters Provide Further Guidance on “Employer Payment Plans”
The IRS has released a series of information letters providing further guidance on the application of ACA group health plan market reforms to various types of employer health care arrangements. These…
- IRS Publishes Affordable Care Act Estimator Tools
The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service has posted several useful tools for individuals and employers to help determine how the ACA may affect them and to estimate ACA related credits and payments. The…
- US District Court for DC Rules Payment of Some ACA Subsidies is Unconstitutional without Separate Appropriation
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that certain Affordable Care Act subsidies designed to reduce deductibles, co-pays, and other means of “cost sharing” by insurers cannot…
- IRS Notice 2015-87 Provides Further Guidance on the Application of ACA Market Reforms to Employer Payment Plans, Employer Mandate and COBRA
On December 16, 2015, the Department of Treasury and IRS issued Notice 2015-87 which provides further guidance on the application of the market reforms that apply to group health plans under the…
2015
- IRS Extends 2015 Deadlines for Health Information Reporting Returns
IRS announced today that it is extending the due dates for the 2015 information reporting requirements under sections 6055 and 6056 of the Code. Specifically, Notice 2016-4 extends the due date: (1)…
- Cadillac Tax Delayed Until 2020
The 2016 omnibus spending bill unveiled by Congressional leaders on December 15 and signed by the President on December 18 includes a two year delay in the Cadillac Tax. In addition to delaying the…
- ACA Automatic Enrollment Repealed
There is good news for employers with more than 200 employees in the recently announced budget deal: The deal repeals the automatic enrollment requirement that was originally enacted as part of the…
- Health Care Coverage Information Returns – Update
Final Versions of 2015 Health Care Information Reporting Forms Now Available The Internal Revenue Service has released the final versions of two key 2015 forms and the related instructions that…
- Exchange Notices to Employers When Employees Receive Premium Tax Credits
CMS just announced that, beginning in 2016, all Healthcare.gov exchanges will start to notify certain employers if one or more of their employees has received an advance payment of premium tax…
- Final Rules Regarding Religious Accommodation of Contraceptive Coverage Mandate
On July 14, 2015 the IRS, DOL and HHS will jointly issue final rules regarding no additional cost preventive services, including contraceptive services, under the Affordable Care Act. The final rules…
- COBRA, FMLA and the ACA Employer Mandate
Let’s assume you have diligently designated initial and standard measurement and stability periods to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the final employer mandate regulations to minimize…
- Class Action Lawsuit Accusing Employer of Reducing Employees’ Hours to Avoid Providing ACA Health Coverage
A May 8, 2015 class action lawsuit filed in New York alleges restaurant chain Dave & Buster’s, Inc. violated ERISA Section 510, which prohibits interfering with an employee’s attainment of an employee…
- EEOC Proposes Amendments to ADA Regulations regarding Employer Wellness Programs
On April 16, 2015 the EEOC released proposed amendments to regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) related to employer wellness programs. The proposed rule provides guidance on the…
- Final Rule Expanding Excepted Benefits to Include Limited Wrap Around Coverage
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury published final rules on March 18, 2015 to amend the definition of excepted benefits to include certain limited…
- King v. Burwell – Oral Argument Audio and Transcript
You can listen to the Supreme Court oral arguments in King v. Burwell – the case challenging provision of subsidies in states that have not established their own health care Marketplaces – here.
- IRS Proposes Various Approaches to Cadillac Tax Implementation
IRS released Notice 2015-16 on February 23, 2015. The notice describes potential approaches the IRS may take in developing regulations to implement the Cadillac Tax, which imposes a 40% excise tax on…
- King v. Burwell Isn’t About Obamacare – Abbe R. Gluck – POLITICO Magazine
This article provides a good primer on one of the rationales the Supreme Court (including some of the conservative justices) could uphold the individual mandate and the employer mandate in the states…
- Calculating and Paying the Excise Tax for Violating the ACA Market Reforms
Code Section 4980D imposes an excise tax equal to $100 per day per individual (theoretically, $36,500 per year per person) for not complying with the ACA market reforms. For employers with “employer…
- Filing Requirements for IRS Forms 1094 and 1095
The IRS has released final Forms 1094 and 1095, which will be used to enforce the ACA employer mandate penalties and the individual mandate and tax credit eligibility rules. These forms must first be…
- IRS Announces Transition Relief for Employer Payment Plans (IRS Notice 2015-17)
IRS Notice 2015-17 provides transition relief for employers that are not Applicable Large Employers (“ALEs”) (i.e. those with less than 50 FTEs) that pay, or reimburse employees for individual health…