II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2366 

To streamline the employer reporting process and strengthen the eligibility 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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: 

8 (1) The Department of the Treasury and the 

9 Internal Revenue Service should work together with 


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1 other relevant departments and agencies to identify 

2 and implement methods to minimize compliance bur3 dens on businesses, insurance carriers, and individ4 uals. 

5 (2) Such collaboration should strike an appro6 priate balance between sufficient reporting to en7 force the law and protecting the privacy of individ8 uals. 

9 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY PROSPECTIVE REPORTING SYSTEM. 

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

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

12 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Admin14 istrator of the Small Business Administration, shall de15 velop and implement guidance providing for a prospective 

16 reporting system meeting the requirements of subsection 

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

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

19 2020. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The system created under sub21 section (a) shall include— 

22 (1) voluntary reporting by each participating 

23 employer that offers minimum essential coverage to 

24 its full-time employees and their dependents under 

25 an eligible employer-sponsored plan, not later than 


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1 45 days before the first day of the annual open en2 rollment period under section 1311(c)(6)(B) of the 

3 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 

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

5 (A) the name and employer identification 

6 number for purposes of section 6056 of the In7 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 of the employer; 

8 (B) a certification of— 

9 (i) whether coverage meeting the defi10 nition of minimum essential coverage in 

11 section 5000A(f) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 is offered to the full-time 

13 employees (within the meaning of section 

14 4980H of such Code) of the employer; 

15 (ii) whether such coverage is offered 

16 to part-time employees of the employer; 

17 (iii) whether such coverage is offered 

18 to dependents of employees; 

19 (iv) whether such coverage is offered 

20 to spouses of employees; 

21 (v) whether such coverage meets the 

22 minimum value requirement of section 

23 36B(c)(2)(C)(ii) of such Code; 

24 (vi) whether such coverage satisfies 

25 the requirements to qualify for one of the 


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1 affordability safe harbors promulgated by 

2 the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes 

3 of section 4980H of such Code; and 

4 (vii) whether the employer reasonably 

5 expects to be liable for any shared respon6 sibility payment under section 4980H of 

7 such Code for such year; 

8 (C) the months during the prospective re9 porting period that such coverage is available to 

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

11 of subparagraph (B); 

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

13 with respect to such coverage; and 

14 (E) a list of all employer identification 

15 numbers of the employer for entities that em16 ploy employees within the employers control 

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

18 section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code for 

19 1986; 

20 (2) processes necessary to ensure that Ex21 changes, the Federal Marketplace Data Services 

22 Hub, and the Internal Revenue Service can securely 

23 and confidentially access the information described 

24 in paragraph (1) as necessary to carry out their re25 spective missions, and to provide to the Secretary of 


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1 Health and Human Services additional information 

2 relating to eligibility determinations for advance pay3 ment of the premium tax credits under section 36B 

4 of such Code and the cost-sharing subsidies under 

5 section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Afford6 able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071); 

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

8 with employers in order to obtain additional reason9 ably necessary information relating to an employee’s 

10 eligibility for such advance payment or such cost11 sharing subsidies, and to allow an employee to re12 ceive notification of any problem in verifying such 

13 eligibility; and 

14 (4) a process to allow employers using the sys15 tem to provide timely updates to the Federal Mar16 ketplace Data Services Hub regarding any cancella17 tion of coverage or significant change in coverage for 

18 participating employees that would change the infor19 mation reported under paragraph (1). 

20 (c) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE EN21 ROLLMENT IN EXCHANGE PLANS.—Subparagraph (J) of 

22 section 1311(d)(4) of the Patient Protection and Afford23 able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(d)(4)(J)) is amended by 

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


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1 ‘‘(and the effective date of such cessation); and’’ and in2 serting ‘‘to each employer— 

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

4 employer who enrolls in a qualified health 

5 plan for a plan year, or whose dependents 

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

7 enrollment; or 

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

9 employer described in subparagraph (I)(ii) 

10 who ceases coverage under a qualified 

11 health plan during a plan year (and the ef12 fective date of such cessation); and’’. 

13 (d) EXEMPTION FROM REPORTING REQUIREMENT

14 UNDER INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—Section 

15 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

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

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

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

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

20 Act of 2019, an employer provides prospective reporting 

21 for any calendar year that meets the requirements of sec22 tion 3(b)(1) of such Act— 

23 ‘‘(1) such employer shall be treated as satis24 fying the return requirements of subsections (a) and 

25 (b) for such year; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) such employer shall be treated as satis2 fying the requirements of subsection (c) for such 

3 year if the employer— 

4 ‘‘(A) furnishes the statement described in 

5 such section to those employees of the employer 

6 whose names have been provided to the em7 ployer by an Exchange under section 

8 1311(d)(4)(J)(i) of the Patient Protection and 

9 Affordable Care Act regarding enrollment of the 

10 employee or a dependent in a qualified health 

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

12 through the Exchange; and 

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

14 with respect to such employees to the Sec15 retary.’’. 

16 (e) THIRD-PARTY FILING.—An employer may con17 tract with a third party to make the report under sub18 section (b)(1) without affecting the employer’s treatment 

19 as having satisfied the return requirements of subsections 

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

21 of 1986. 

22 (f) ACCESS TO THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW

23 HIRES.—Subsection (i)(3) of section 453 of the Social Se24 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at the 

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


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1 Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv2 ices shall have access to the information in the National 

3 Directory of New Hires for purposes of administering sec4 tion 36B and 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 and section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Af6 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071). Subsection (k)(3) 

7 shall not apply to information received for purposes of the 

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

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

10 (g) IMPROVING EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO ACCURATE

11 EINS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall de13 velop and implement guidance for allowing any employee 

14 of an employer to receive, on request, the employer’s em15 ployer identification number for purposes of section 6056 

16 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Employers shall 

17 provide the employer’s employer identification number for 

18 purposes of section 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code 

19 of 1986 on one of the following documents of the employ20 er’s election: 

21 (1) Health Insurance Marketplace Coverage 

22 Options Notice required under section 18B of the 

23 Fair Labor Standards Act. 


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1 (2) Summary of Benefits and Coverage de2 scribed in section 2715 of the Patient Protection 

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

4 (3) Marketplace Employer Coverage tool. 

5 (4) Annual benefits enrollment materials dis6 tributed to employees, including through an intranet 

7 or an online portal accessible by employees. 

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

9 (h) FUNDING FOR VOLUNTARY PROSPECTIVE RE10 PORTING SYSTEM.—It is the sense of Congress that build11 ing and maintaining the voluntary prospective reporting 

12 system described in this section will require appropriations 

13 to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health 

14 and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Ad15 ministrator of the Small Business Administration, and 

16 that necessary sums to carry out the requirements of this 

17 section should be appropriated for such purpose. 

18 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF DEPENDENT PRIVACY. 

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

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add21 ing at the end the following flush sentence: 

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

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

24 insurance issuer or the employer is unable to collect or 

25 maintain information on the TINs of such individuals 


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

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

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

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

5 date of birth in lieu of the TIN, the Social Security Ad6 ministration shall assist the Internal Revenue Service in 

7 providing data matches to determine the TIN associated 

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

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

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

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

12 is after the date that is 60 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC STATEMENTS. 

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

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new paragraph: 

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

19 shall be deemed to have consented to receive the 

20 statement under this subsection in electronic form if 

21 such individual has affirmatively consented at any 

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

23 individual during the calendar year to which the 

24 statement relates, to receive such statement in elec25 tronic form. The preceding sentence shall not apply 


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1 if the individual revokes consent in writing with re2 spect to the statement under this subsection.’’. 

3 (b) STATEMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH INSURANCE

4 COVERAGE.—Subsection (c) of section 6055 of the Inter5 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new paragraph: 

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

8 shall be deemed to have consented to receive the 

9 statement under this subsection in electronic form if 

10 such individual has affirmatively consented at any 

11 prior time, to the person required to make such 

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

13 health coverage), to receive in electronic form any 

14 private health information (such as electronic health 

15 records), unless the individual revokes such consent 

16 in writing.’’. 

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

18 this section shall apply to statements the due date for 

19 which is after December 31, 2019. 

20 SEC. 6. GAO STUDIES. 

21 (a) STUDY OF FIRST YEARS OF EMPLOYER REPORT22 ING.— 

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

24 the United States shall conduct a study that evaluVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2366.IS S2366

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1 ates, with respect to the period beginning on Janu2 ary 1, 2015, and ending on December 31, 2018— 

3 (A) the notification of employers by Ex4 changes established under title I of the Patient 

5 Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public 

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

7 employer has been determined eligible for ad8 vance payment of premium tax credits under 

9 section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 or cost-sharing subsidies under section 

11 1402 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18071), including 

12 information regarding— 

13 (i) the data elements included in the 

14 employer notification; 

15 (ii) the process by which the notifica16 tion forms were developed and sent to em17 ployers, including whether the process pro18 vided for a formal notice and comment pe19 riod; 

20 (iii) whether employers report that 

21 such notifications provided sufficient and 

22 relevant information for them to make ap23 propriate decisions about whether to utilize 

24 the appeals process; 


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1 (iv) the total number of notifications 

2 sent to employers and the timeline of when 

3 such notifications were sent; 

4 (v) differences in the notification proc5 ess between the marketplace facilitated by 

6 the Federal Government and the State7 Based Marketplaces; and 

8 (vi) challenges that have arisen in the 

9 notification process, and recommendations 

10 to address these challenges; and 

11 (B) the extent to which the Secretary of 

12 Health and Human Services has established a 

13 separate appeals process for employers who re14 ceived such a notification to challenge the eligi15 bility determination, as required by section 

16 1411(f)(2) of the Patient Protection and Af17 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18081(f)(2)). 

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

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

20 General shall submit to the Committees on Finance 

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

22 Senate and the Committees on Ways and Means, 

23 Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor of 

24 the House of Representatives a report on the results 

25 of the study conducted under paragraph (1). 


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1 (b) STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE REPORTING SYSTEM.— 

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

3 the United States shall conduct a study that evalu4 ates, with respect to the period beginning on Janu5 ary 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020, the 

6 functionality of the prospective reporting system es7 tablished pursuant to section 3, including the accu8 racy of information collected, the number of employ9 ers electing to report under such system, and any 

10 challenges that have arisen in implementing such 

11 system. 

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

13 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees 

14 on Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pen15 sions of the Senate and the Committees on Ways 

16 and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education 

17 and Labor of the House of Representatives a report 

18 on the results of the study conducted under para19 graph (1). 

20 SEC. 7. TAX COMPLIANCE. 

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

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 

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

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

25 Act of 2019’’ before ‘‘, or’’. 


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

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

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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