Do you have to pay a
penalty?
If you learn as you do your
taxes that you owe a fee for not having health insurance last year, avoid
having to pay this fee next year. Find out if you are eligible to sign up for health
insurance for 2015,
even though open enrollment has closed. If you are - you’ll avoid bigger penalties next year, and may receive subsidies that make
the insurance premiums more affordable. This special enrollment period runs from March 15 to
April 30.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Monday, September 22, 2014
IRS Releases Notice 2014-55 Providing for Additional Election Changes Events (Cafeteria Plan)
The IRS released Notice 2014-55 which provides additional permitted election changes for health coverage under Code Section 125 cafeteria plans. This notice provides two specific situations in which a cafeteria plan participant may wish to revoke, during a plan year, the employee's election for employer-sponsored health coverage under the cafeteria plan in order to purchase a Qualified Health Plan through a Marketplace.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
IRS Increases ACA's Affordability Percentages for 2015
On July 24, 2014, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2014-37 to index the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) affordability percentages for 2015 under the employer mandate. The IRS also adjusted upward the income level under which employees are exempt from the ACA's individual mandate.
Employer Mandate Adjustment
An applicable large employer's health coverage will be considered affordable for plan Years beginning in 2015 under employer mandate if the employee's required contribution to the plan does not exceed 9.56 percent of the employee's household income for the year, up from 9.5 percent. This increase also applies to the three safe harbors that the IRS created in the regulations.
The reason for the increase is that the employer mandate was originally meant to take effect in 2014 but was subsequently delayed until 2015 or 2016, depending on employer size.
Individual Mandate Adjustment
Revenue Procedure 2014-37 also adjusts the affordability percentage for the exemption from the individual mandate for individuals who lack access to affordable minimum essential coverage. For plan years beginning in 2015, coverage is unaffordable for purposes of the individual mandate if it exceeds 8.05% of household income (as opposed to 8% originally).
This change stems from the requirement that the IRS must adjust the affordability percentage to reflect the excess of the rate of premium growth over the rate of income growth for the preceding calendar year, with each subsequent plan year being adjust accordingly.
For a copy of Revenue Procedure 2014-37, please click on the link below:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-14-37.pdf
Employer Mandate Adjustment
An applicable large employer's health coverage will be considered affordable for plan Years beginning in 2015 under employer mandate if the employee's required contribution to the plan does not exceed 9.56 percent of the employee's household income for the year, up from 9.5 percent. This increase also applies to the three safe harbors that the IRS created in the regulations.
The reason for the increase is that the employer mandate was originally meant to take effect in 2014 but was subsequently delayed until 2015 or 2016, depending on employer size.
Individual Mandate Adjustment
Revenue Procedure 2014-37 also adjusts the affordability percentage for the exemption from the individual mandate for individuals who lack access to affordable minimum essential coverage. For plan years beginning in 2015, coverage is unaffordable for purposes of the individual mandate if it exceeds 8.05% of household income (as opposed to 8% originally).
This change stems from the requirement that the IRS must adjust the affordability percentage to reflect the excess of the rate of premium growth over the rate of income growth for the preceding calendar year, with each subsequent plan year being adjust accordingly.
For a copy of Revenue Procedure 2014-37, please click on the link below:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-14-37.pdf
Monday, June 30, 2014
Justices: Can’t make employers cover contraception
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.
The justices’ 5-4 decision is the first time that the high court has ruled that profit-seeking businesses can hold religious views under federal law. And it means the Obama administration must search for a different way of providing free contraception to women who are covered under objecting companies’ health insurance plans.
Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld two years later.
Two years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts cast the pivotal vote that saved the health care law in the midst of Obama’s campaign for re-election. On Monday, dealing with a small sliver of the law, Roberts sided with the four justices who would have struck down the law in its entirety.
The justices’ 5-4 decision is the first time that the high court has ruled that profit-seeking businesses can hold religious views under federal law. And it means the Obama administration must search for a different way of providing free contraception to women who are covered under objecting companies’ health insurance plans.
Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld two years later.
Two years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts cast the pivotal vote that saved the health care law in the midst of Obama’s campaign for re-election. On Monday, dealing with a small sliver of the law, Roberts sided with the four justices who would have struck down the law in its entirety.
HHS To Allow Automatic Re-Enrollment Under ACA
The majority of those who enrolled in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act plans through the exchanges will be auto-enrolled in the same health plan they selected in 2014 this coming enrollment period, as well as receive the same subsidies, if applicable, the administration said Thursday.
The rule was proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“As we plan for open enrollment in year two and continue to build a sustainable long-term system, we are committed to simplifying the experience for consumers by allowing auto-enrollment,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a news release. “We are working to streamline the process for consumers wishing to remain in their current plan.”
Basically, under the new guidelines, most of the law’s customers “would be able to renew subsidized health insurance coverage without filing an application and without going back to HealthCare.gov, the website that frustrated millions of consumers last fall.” New HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who issued the rules Thursday, said, “We are working to streamline the process for consumers wishing to remain in their current plan.”
The rule was proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“As we plan for open enrollment in year two and continue to build a sustainable long-term system, we are committed to simplifying the experience for consumers by allowing auto-enrollment,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a news release. “We are working to streamline the process for consumers wishing to remain in their current plan.”
Basically, under the new guidelines, most of the law’s customers “would be able to renew subsidized health insurance coverage without filing an application and without going back to HealthCare.gov, the website that frustrated millions of consumers last fall.” New HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who issued the rules Thursday, said, “We are working to streamline the process for consumers wishing to remain in their current plan.”
Health Reform Questions - Reimbursing Individual Market Premiums
Question: Can an employer reimburse its employees for premiums on a pre-tax basis for purchasing individual market medical coverage?
Answer: No. In IRS Notice 2013-54 & Technical Release 2013-3, the IRS and DOL prohibit the reimbursement of premiums for individual medical policies from health reimbursement arrangements and premium only plans.
Recently, the IRS issued a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list that reiterates earlier guidance disallowing pre-tax employer reimbursements for employee health care premiums. The FAQ also calls attention to the $100 per day, per employee penalty for non-compliance.
Answer: No. In IRS Notice 2013-54 & Technical Release 2013-3, the IRS and DOL prohibit the reimbursement of premiums for individual medical policies from health reimbursement arrangements and premium only plans.
Recently, the IRS issued a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list that reiterates earlier guidance disallowing pre-tax employer reimbursements for employee health care premiums. The FAQ also calls attention to the $100 per day, per employee penalty for non-compliance.
Do You Speak Healthcare?
Do You Speak Healthcare?
If you do an Internet search for the acronym, ACA, you are likely to find over 200 possible definitions. (I found 213 on one page alone!)
When referring to ACA in the healthcare industry, ACA stands for the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. ACA is just one of the newer acronyms that you hear in the healthcare industry. ACO, CIN, and PCMH are also newer terms that you will begin to hear more about.
ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization. A CIN is a Clinically Integrated Network and a PCMH is a Patient Centered Medical Home. All of these are clinical models in the healthcare industry designed to improve the health outcomes of the patients and members that they serve.
Want to learn more? We can help you navigate the ACA, CIN, EOB, and SBC of it all!
View a Glossary of Common Healthcare Words as well as Abbreviations and Acronyms
Article courtesy of Optima Health.
If you do an Internet search for the acronym, ACA, you are likely to find over 200 possible definitions. (I found 213 on one page alone!)
When referring to ACA in the healthcare industry, ACA stands for the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. ACA is just one of the newer acronyms that you hear in the healthcare industry. ACO, CIN, and PCMH are also newer terms that you will begin to hear more about.
ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization. A CIN is a Clinically Integrated Network and a PCMH is a Patient Centered Medical Home. All of these are clinical models in the healthcare industry designed to improve the health outcomes of the patients and members that they serve.
Want to learn more? We can help you navigate the ACA, CIN, EOB, and SBC of it all!
View a Glossary of Common Healthcare Words as well as Abbreviations and Acronyms
Article courtesy of Optima Health.
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