I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4070 

To streamline the employer reporting process and strengthen the eligibility 

verification process for the premium assistance tax credit and costsharing subsidy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To streamline the employer reporting process and strengthen 

the eligibility verification process for the premium assistance tax credit and cost-sharing subsidy. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commonsense Report5 ing Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 4070 IH

1 (1) The Department of the Treasury and the 

2 Internal Revenue Service should work together with 

3 other relevant departments and agencies to identify 

4 and implement methods to minimize compliance bur5 dens on businesses, insurance carriers, and individ6 uals. 

7 (2) Such collaboration should strike an appro8 priate balance between sufficient reporting to en9 force the law and protecting the privacy of individ10 uals. 

11 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PROSPECTIVE REPORTING SYSTEM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

15 Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Admin16 istrator of the Small Business Administration, shall de17 velop and implement guidance providing for a prospective 

18 reporting system meeting the requirements of subsection 

19 (b). Such system shall be available for use by employers 

20 on a voluntary basis beginning not later than January 1, 

21 2020. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The system created under sub23 section (a) shall include— 

24 (1) voluntary reporting by each participating 

25 employer that offers minimum essential coverage to 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 4070 IH

1 its full-time employees and their dependents under 

2 an eligible employer-sponsored plan, not later than 

3 45 days before the first day of the annual open en4 rollment period under section 1311(c)(6)(B) of the 

5 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 18031(c)(6)(B)) for each calendar year, of— 

7 (A) the name and employer identification 

8 number for purposes of section 6056 of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 of the employer; 

10 (B) a certification of— 

11 (i) whether coverage meeting the defi12 nition of minimum essential coverage in 

13 section 5000A(f) of the Internal Revenue 

14 Code of 1986 is offered to the full-time 

15 employees (within the meaning of section 

16 4980H of such Code) of the employer; 

17 (ii) whether such coverage is offered 

18 to part-time employees of the employer; 

19 (iii) whether such coverage is offered 

20 to dependents of employees; 

21 (iv) whether such coverage is offered 

22 to spouses of employees; 

23 (v) whether such coverage meets the 

24 minimum value requirement of section 

25 36B(c)(2)(C)(ii) of such Code; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 4070 IH

1 (vi) whether such coverage satisfies 

2 the requirements to qualify for one of the 

3 affordability safe harbors promulgated by 

4 the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes 

5 of section 4980H of such Code; and 

6 (vii) whether the employer reasonably 

7 expects to be liable for any shared respon8 sibility payment under section 4980H of 

9 such Code for such year; 

10 (C) the months during the prospective re11 porting period that such coverage is available to 

12 individuals described in clauses (i) through (iv) 

13 of subparagraph (B); 

14 (D) what waiting periods, if any, apply 

15 with respect to such coverage; and 

16 (E) a list of all employer identification 

17 numbers of the employer for entities that em18 ploy employees within the employers control 

19 group under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of 

20 section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code for 

21 1986; 

22 (2) processes necessary to ensure that Ex23 changes, the Federal Marketplace Data Services 

24 Hub, and the Internal Revenue Service can securely 

25 and confidentially access the information described 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 4070 IH

1 in paragraph (1) as necessary to carry out their re2 spective missions, and to provide to the Secretary of 

3 Health and Human Services additional information 

4 relating to eligibility determinations for advance pay5 ment of the premium tax credits under section 36B 

6 of such Code and the cost-sharing subsidies under 

7 section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Afford8 able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071); 

9 (3) a process to allow Exchanges to follow up 

10 with employers in order to obtain additional reason11 ably necessary information relating to an employee’s 

12 eligibility for such advance payment or such cost13 sharing subsidies, and to allow an employee to re14 ceive notification of any problem in verifying such 

15 eligibility; and 

16 (4) a process to allow employers using the sys17 tem to provide timely updates to the Federal Mar18 ketplace Data Services Hub regarding any cancella19 tion of coverage or significant change in coverage for 

20 participating employees that would change the infor21 mation reported under paragraph (1). 

22 (c) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE EN23 ROLLMENT IN EXCHANGE PLANS.—Subparagraph (J) of 

24 section 1311(d)(4) of the Patient Protection and Afford25 able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(d)(4)(J)) is amended by 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 4070 IH

1 striking ‘‘to each employer’’ and all that follows through 

2 ‘‘(and the effective date of such cessation); and’’ and in3 serting ‘‘to each employer— 

4 ‘‘(i) the name of each employee of the 

5 employer who enrolls in a qualified health 

6 plan for a plan year, or whose dependents 

7 enroll in such a plan, at the time of such 

8 enrollment; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the name of each employee of the 

10 employer described in subparagraph (I)(ii) 

11 who ceases coverage under a qualified 

12 health plan during a plan year (and the ef13 fective date of such cessation); and’’. 

14 (d) EXEMPTION FROM REPORTING REQUIREMENT

15 UNDER INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—Section 

16 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

17 by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by 

18 inserting after subsection (e) the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION.—If, through the system created 

20 pursuant to section 3(a) of the Commonsense Reporting 

21 Act of 2019, an employer provides prospective reporting 

22 for any calendar year that meets the requirements of sec23 tion 3(b)(1) of such Act— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 4070 IH

1 ‘‘(1) such employer shall be treated as satis2 fying the return requirements of subsections (a) and 

3 (b) for such year; and 

4 ‘‘(2) such employer shall be treated as satis5 fying the requirements of subsection (c) for such 

6 year if the employer— 

7 ‘‘(A) furnishes the statement described in 

8 such section to those employees of the employer 

9 whose names have been provided to the em10 ployer by an Exchange under section 

11 1311(d)(4)(J)(i) of the Patient Protection and 

12 Affordable Care Act regarding enrollment of the 

13 employee or a dependent in a qualified health 

14 plan (as defined in section 1301 of such Act) 

15 through the Exchange; and 

16 ‘‘(B) furnishes a copy of such statement 

17 with respect to such employees to the Sec18 retary.’’. 

19 (e) THIRD-PARTY FILING.—An employer may con20 tract with a third party to make the report under sub21 section (b)(1) without affecting the employer’s treatment 

22 as having satisfied the return requirements of subsections 

23 (a) and (b) of section 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•HR 4070 IH

1 (f) ACCESS TO THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW

2 HIRES.—Subsection (i)(3) of section 453 of the Social Se3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Secretary of the 

5 Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv6 ices shall have access to the information in the National 

7 Directory of New Hires for purposes of administering sec8 tion 36B and 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 and section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Af10 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071). Subsection (k)(3) 

11 shall not apply to information received for purposes of the 

12 administration of such sections 36B and 4980H of such 

13 Code and section 1402 of such Act.’’. 

14 (g) IMPROVING EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO ACCURATE

15 EINS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall de17 velop and implement guidance for allowing any employee 

18 of an employer to receive, on request, the employer’s em19 ployer identification number for purposes of section 6056 

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Employers shall 

21 provide the employer’s employer identification number for 

22 purposes of section 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986 on one of the following documents of the employ24 er’s election: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•HR 4070 IH

1 (1) Health Insurance Marketplace Coverage 

2 Options Notice required under section 18B of the 

3 Fair Labor Standards Act. 

4 (2) Summary of Benefits and Coverage de5 scribed in section 2715 of the Patient Protection 

6 and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071). 

7 (3) Marketplace Employer Coverage tool. 

8 (4) Annual benefits enrollment materials dis9 tributed to employees, including through an intranet 

10 or an online portal accessible by employees. 

11 (5) Employee pay statements or Form W–2. 

12 (h) FUNDING FOR VOLUNTARY PROSPECTIVE RE13 PORTING SYSTEM.—It is the sense of Congress that build14 ing and maintaining the voluntary prospective reporting 

15 system described in this section will require appropriations 

16 to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health 

17 and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Ad18 ministrator of the Small Business Administration, and 

19 that necessary sums to carry out the requirements of this 

20 section should be appropriated for such purpose. 

21 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF DEPENDENT PRIVACY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 6055(b) 

23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add24 ing at the end the following flush sentence: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•HR 4070 IH

1 ‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), in the case of 

2 an individual other than the primary insured, if the health 

3 insurance issuer or the employer is unable to collect or 

4 maintain information on the TINs of such individuals 

5 (other than for purposes of this section), the Secretary 

6 may allow the individual’s full name and date of birth to 

7 be substituted for the name and TIN. In the event the 

8 Secretary allows the use of the individual’s full name and 

9 date of birth in lieu of the TIN, the Social Security Ad10 ministration shall assist the Internal Revenue Service in 

11 providing data matches to determine the TIN associated 

12 with the name and date of birth provided by the Internal 

13 Revenue Service with respect to such individual.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 this section shall apply to returns the due date for which 

16 is after the date that is 60 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC STATEMENTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 6056 of 

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC DELIVERY.—An individual 

23 shall be deemed to have consented to receive the 

24 statement under this subsection in electronic form if 

25 such individual has affirmatively consented at any 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•HR 4070 IH

1 prior time, to the person who is the employer of the 

2 individual during the calendar year to which the 

3 statement relates, to receive such statement in elec4 tronic form. The preceding sentence shall not apply 

5 if the individual revokes consent in writing with re6 spect to the statement under this subsection.’’. 

7 (b) STATEMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH INSURANCE

8 COVERAGE.—Subsection (c) of section 6055 of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC DELIVERY.—An individual 

12 shall be deemed to have consented to receive the 

13 statement under this subsection in electronic form if 

14 such individual has affirmatively consented at any 

15 prior time, to the person required to make such 

16 statement (such as the provider of the individual’s 

17 health coverage), to receive in electronic form any 

18 private health information (such as electronic health 

19 records), unless the individual revokes such consent 

20 in writing.’’. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to statements the due date for 

23 which is after December 31, 2019. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•HR 4070 IH

1 SEC. 6. GAO STUDIES. 

2 (a) STUDY OF FIRST YEARS OF EMPLOYER REPORT3 ING.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

5 the United States shall conduct a study that evalu6 ates, with respect to the period beginning on Janu7 ary 1, 2015, and ending on December 31, 2018— 

8 (A) the notification of employers by Ex9 changes established under title I of the Patient 

10 Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public 

11 Law 111–148) that a full-time employee of the 

12 employer has been determined eligible for ad13 vance payment of premium tax credits under 

14 section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986 or cost-sharing subsidies under section 

16 1402 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18071), including 

17 information regarding— 

18 (i) the data elements included in the 

19 employer notification; 

20 (ii) the process by which the notifica21 tion forms were developed and sent to em22 ployers, including whether the process pro23 vided for a formal notice and comment pe24 riod; 

25 (iii) whether employers report that 

26 such notifications provided sufficient and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
13 

•HR 4070 IH

1 relevant information for them to make ap2 propriate decisions about whether to utilize 

3 the appeals process; 

4 (iv) the total number of notifications 

5 sent to employers and the timeline of when 

6 such notifications were sent; 

7 (v) differences in the notification proc8 ess between the marketplace facilitated by 

9 the Federal Government and the State10 Based Marketplaces; and 

11 (vi) challenges that have arisen in the 

12 notification process, and recommendations 

13 to address these challenges; and 

14 (B) the extent to which the Secretary of 

15 Health and Human Services has established a 

16 separate appeals process for employers who re17 ceived such a notification to challenge the eligi18 bility determination, as required by section 

19 1411(f)(2) of the Patient Protection and Af20 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18081(f)(2)). 

21 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

23 General shall submit to the Committees on Finance 

24 and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

25 Senate and the Committees on Ways and Means, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
14 

•HR 4070 IH

1 Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor of 

2 the House of Representatives a report on the results 

3 of the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

4 (b) STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

6 the United States shall conduct a study that evalu7 ates, with respect to the period beginning on Janu8 ary 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020, the 

9 functionality of the prospective reporting system es10 tablished pursuant to section 3, including the accu11 racy of information collected, the number of employ12 ers electing to report under such system, and any 

13 challenges that have arisen in implementing such 

14 system. 

15 (2) REPORT.—Not later than July 1, 2021, the 

16 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees 

17 on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pen18 sions of the Senate and the Committees on Ways 

19 and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education 

20 and Labor of the House of Representatives a report 

21 on the results of the study conducted under para22 graph (1). 

23 SEC. 7. TAX COMPLIANCE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6724(d)(1)(B)(xxv) of the 

25 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
15 

•HR 4070 IH

1 ‘‘or, in the case of an employer to which section 6056(f) 

2 applies, section 3(b)(1) of the Commonsense Reporting 

3 Act of 2019’’ before ‘‘, or’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 this section shall apply to returns required to be filed after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS