Source: http://slideplayer.com/slide/3931144/
Timestamp: 2017-02-23 18:05:53
Document Index: 87771502

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 4980', '§ 4980', '§ 6055', '§ 6056', '§ 6056', '§ 6055', '§ 6056', '§ 6056', '§ 6056', '§ 6056', '§ 6056']

The Affordable Care Act: What You Should Know for 2014? By: Al Holifield Holifield & Associates, PLLC Kingston Pike Suite 201 Knoxville, TN ppt download
The Affordable Care Act: What You Should Know for 2014? By: Al Holifield Holifield & Associates, PLLC 11907 Kingston Pike Suite 201 Knoxville, TN 37934.
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Presentation on theme: "The Affordable Care Act: What You Should Know for 2014? By: Al Holifield Holifield & Associates, PLLC 11907 Kingston Pike Suite 201 Knoxville, TN 37934."— Presentation transcript:
The Affordable Care Act: What You Should Know for 2014? By: Al Holifield Holifield & Associates, PLLC Kingston Pike Suite 201 Knoxville, TN Phone: (865) Fax: (865)
 In 2015, the pay-or-play mandate requires employers of 50 full time employees or more – that do not meet the new transition relief requirements delaying the mandate to 2016 – to offer quality, affordable health insurance coverage to full time employees and their dependents (no spouses)  Full time employees: those employees working on average 30 hours or more per week  Failure to offer such coverage may subject the employer to a penalty for a given month if a full time employee receives a federal premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction and is enrolled in coverage through a health insurance exchange Employer “Pay-or-Play” Mandate 2
 For these purposes only, full time employees are determined by taking the sum of the employer’s full time employees (using a 30 hour per week standard) and the number determined by dividing the hours of service of employees who are not full time employees by 120 (“full- time equivalents”). When is an Employer Subject to Pay-or-Play? 3
Examples:  Employer employs 40 full time employees and 20 part-time employees who each work 60 hours per month.  50 FTE: 40 + (20 × 60 ÷ 120) = 50  Employer employs 35 full time employees and 20 part-time employees who each work 96 hours per month  51 FTE: 35 + (20 × 96 ÷ 120) = 51 When is an Employer Subject to Pay-or-Play? 4
 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company v. Darden 503 U.S. 318, 112 S.Ct (1992) Who is an Employee? 5
20 Factor Test 1.Actual instruction or direction of worker 2.Training 3.Integration of services 4.Personal nature of services 5.Similar workers 6.Continuing relationship 7.Full-time worker 8.Work on premises 9.Order of performance 10. Hours of work 6
20 Factor Test 11. Submitting reports 12.Method of payment 13. Payment of expenses 14. Tools and materials 15. Investment 16. Profit or loss 17. Exclusivity of work 18. Available to general work 19. Right of discharge 20. Right to quit 7
Anyone who is not an Employee. Who is an Independent Contractor? 8
Seasonal Employees  Special rule for seasonal employees  Seasonal workers are those who perform labor or services on a seasonal basis as defined by the DOL and retail workers employed exclusively during holiday seasons When is an Employer Subject to Pay-or-Play? 9
 Employers who “opt out” of providing benefits (often referred to as the “A” penalty because the penalty is imposed pursuant to § 4980H(a))  Employers who do not offer health coverage to at least 95% (70% for 2015 only) of full time employees (and their dependents (no spouses)) are penalized  If at least one full time employee (30+ hrs/wk or 130+ hrs/mo) is eligible for, or receives, a tax credit and enrolls in exchange coverage, the employer is subject to an annual penalty of $2,000 × all full time employees (except for the first 30 (80 for 2015 only)  Penalty is assessed monthly (i.e., $ per full time employee per month) on EIN basis What are the Pay-or-Play Penalties? 10
 Example 1: No full time employee receives a tax credit  No penalty assessed  Example 2: One or more full time employees receive a tax credit  The annual penalty is calculated by taking the number of full time employees minus 30 (80 for 2015 only), multiplied by $2,000  If there are 50 full time employees, the penalty would not vary if only one employee or all 50 employees received the credit; the employer’s annual penalty would be  (50-30) × $2,000 = $40,000 What are the Pay-or-Play Penalties? 11
 Employers who do not provide “affordable” coverage (often referred to as the “B” penalty because the penalty is imposed pursuant to § 4980H(b))  Coverage is affordable only if the premium for single coverage under the employer’s lowest cost plan with at least a 60% “actuarial value” does not exceed 9.5% of household income (or W-2 wages)  Annual penalty is the lesser of $3,000 for each full time employee who receives a tax credit and enrolls in exchange coverage, or $2,000 multiplied by all full time employees (subtracting first 30 (80 for 2015 only))  Penalty is assessed monthly (i.e., $250 per subsidy- receiving full time employee per month) on EIN basis What are the Pay-or-Play Penalties? 12
 Example 1: No full time employee receives a tax credit  No penalty assessed  Example 2: One or more full time employees receive a tax credit  For an employer with 50 full time employees, annual penalty is the lesser of:  The number of full time employees minus 30, multiplied by $2,000, or  The number of full time employees who receive tax credits multiplied by $3,000  Assuming 10 full time employees received tax credits, the potential annual penalty on the employer would be $30,000  However, if the employer had 30 full time employees who received tax credits, then the potential annual penalty on the employer would be capped at $40,000 (20 employees × $2,000) rather than $90,000 as calculated (30 employees × $3,000) What are the Pay-or-Play Penalties? 13
Determining an Employee’s Full-Time Status For Purposes of the “Pay or Play” Penalty  The Monthly Method  The Look-Back Method 14
 An employer elects to use a 6-month measurement period and a 6-month stability period for purposes of determining its full time employees  The first measurement period runs from January 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014 and the associated stability period runs from July 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 Example of Full Time Employee Status 15
The Monthly Method  130 hours of service in a calendar month is deemed equivalent of an average of 30 hours per week  “Hour of service” = each hour for which employee is paid, including vacation, holiday, illness, disability or other paid leave of absence.  Non-salaried employees: three methods for determining hours worked:  Same method used for hourly employees  Days-worked equivalency (worker is credited with 8 hours for each day worked)  Weeks-worked equivalency (worker is credited with 40 hours for each week worked) 16
The Look-Back Method  Select a “measurement period” of at least 3 but not more than 12 months and use employee’s work hours during that period to establish eligibility for health coverage  Eligibility status established during the standard measurement period will apply during the subsequent “stability period”  Employers may also include an “administrative period” of not more than 90 days between the measurement period and stability period to allow for eligibility determinations and coordination with open enrollment 17
 A Variable Hour Employee (new employees only)  On start date, it cannot be determined whether employee is expected to work on average at least 30 hours per week  Initial Measurement Period of between 3 and 12 months  Assess average during Initial Measurement Period  Assessment is then used for stability period that is the same as for ongoing employees  Use of Administrative Period  Can use an “administrative period” but total of initial measurement period and administrative period cannot exceed 13 months (plus the remainder of the month if anniversary falls in middle of month) Variable Hour Employees & Full Time Employee Status 18
 Effective January 1, 2014; waiting period cannot exceed 90 days from the first day of eligibility  Proposed regulations provide for an “orientation period”; 1 month minus a day limit  An employer will not be subject to a penalty for the first 3 months following an employee’s date of hire; applies only with regard to eligible employees; no “90 days free” for employees excluded from coverage 90-Day Waiting Period Limit 19
 DOL, IRS, and HHS audits will increase  Already seeing audits of grandfathered status by DOL under the ACA  Worker misclassification  DOL efforts focus on increasing employer compliance rather than assessing penalties in early years  Form 5500 – Annual Reports – rejection of plan audit attached to annual report Regulatory Audits and Other Minefields 20
 As of January 1, 2014, individuals may elect coverage under COBRA or from an Exchange  Special enrollment period until July 1, 2014  Exchange vs COBRA  Exchange offers premium subsidies for individuals with household income up to 400% of the federal poverty level  Cost of exchange correlates directly to individual’s age  Cost of employer coverage, and thus COBRA, reflects a broader range of ages  Exchange does not cover dental, vision, medical flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement accounts, and employee assistance plans, which are subject to COBRA Impact on COBRA Coverage 21
 Does not affect Medicare payments  More employers incentivized to get rid of early retirement plans  Some large employers have already begun to remove retirees from company health plans to private exchanges:  IBM  Caterpillar  Time Warner  General Electric  Wal-Mart Impact on Retiree Health Coverage 22
NEW DEVELOPMENTS  New COBRA Guidance  Repeal of Deduction Limits  Out-of-Pocket Limits  New HSA Limits for 2015  Employer ACA Reporting  Nondiscrimination requirements for fully insured plans 23
New COBRA Guidance  May 2, 2014  General rule for former employees in an Exchange  May enroll: (i) during Exchange open enrollment (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7); (ii) during 60-day window following loss of coverage due to termination of employment; or (iii) after fully exhausting COBRA  “Special” Special Enrollment Rule:  HHS concerned that individuals didn’t know rules  Limited enrollment opportunity until July 1, 2014  Interested individuals need to call  Updated Model COBRA Notices Released   24
Repeal of Deductible Limits  April Fool’s Day –President Obama signed into law the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014  Primary focus was to push back beyond mid-term elections (with a one-year delay) 24% reduction in Medicare payment rates for physicians  Included in Law: repeal of deductibles for small group health insurance plans  i.e., $2,000/$4,000 deductible limit now gone  Repeal is retroactive to the date of the ACA’s enactment (March 23, 2010)  Impact?  How quickly, if at all, will carriers return to offering policies with deductibles that exceed the now-repealed $2,000/$4,000 limits? 25
Out-of-Pocket Limits  New Rule for plan years beginning on or after 1/1/14  Out-of-Pocket Limits (non-grandfathered plans)  Applies to in-network essentials health benefits  2014 limits: $6,350 single / $12,700 family  2015 limits: $6,600 single / $13,200 family  Deductibles, coinsurance and copayments apply toward the limit  Transition Relief for Plans that use Multiple Service Providers  Applies only to the first plan year beginning in 2014  Generally applicable to self-insured plans that use a PBM  Departments will consider a plan to have satisfied OOP limits if: 1. Plan complies with OOP limit for major medical coverage; and 2. To the extent the plan includes an OOP limit on the other coverage (e.g., there is a separate OOP limit for Rx, it complies with the limit) 26
New HSA Limits for /2015 Minimum Annual Deductible for HDHP 2014/2015 Maximum Annual HSA Contribution 2014/2015 Maximum Annual Out-of- Pocket Individual$1,250 / $1,300 $3,300 / $3,350 $6,350 / $6,450 Family$2,500 / $2,600 $6,550 / $6,650 $12,700 / $12,900 o 2015 HDHP limit is lower than the ACA’s OOP limits ($6,600 / $13,200) o Expenses will accumulate toward the HDHP limit more quickly because the HDHP limits apply to all covered in-networks benefits, not just essential health benefits 27
Employer ACA Reporting  Code § 6055 Reporting – All health insurance providers  Discloses information about entity providing coverage, individuals who are covered and the months for which they were covered  Includes employers that sponsor self-insured plans  Reporting not required for HSAs, on-site medical clinics, wellness programs or dental/vision  Employers subject to § 6056 reporting may combine reporting 28
Employer ACA Reporting  Code § 6056 Reporting Forms  Form 1094-C (transmittal to IRS)  Filed with IRS by February 28 (March 31 if filing electronically  Form 1095-C (an employee statement)  Provided to full-time employees by January 31  Fully-insured plans: Employer only completes top half of the form  Self-insured plans: Employer completes both sections to satisfy its Code §§ 6055 and 6056 reporting requirements  All forms have yet to be developed  Electronic delivery is permissible with employee’s consent 29
Employer ACA Reporting  Code § 6056 – Simplified Method #1 – “Qualifying Offers”  Qualifying offer is an offer of minimum value coverage to the employee, spouse and children that costs the employee no more that 9.5% of the FPL (approximately $1,100 in 2014) for single coverage  Employers making a qualifying offer will only need to report names, addresses, and tax IDs of employees who receive qualifying offers  For 2015, employees making a qualifying offer to 95% of their FT employees (including spouses and children) may use the simplified reporting method for all employees 30
Employer ACA Reporting  Code § 6056 – Simplified Method #2 – “Option to Report without Separate Certification of FT Employees”  Employers that offer affordable, minimum value coverage to at least 98% of employees included on the report may certify the offering without including specific names and numbers of full time employees 31
Employer ACA Reporting  Effective Dates – Both reporting rules are effective in 2014; however, compliance is voluntary until 2015  First mandatory reporting in January/February 2016 for 2015  This includes employers with FTEs that are exempt from the pay-or-play mandate in 2015 (and generally for any portion of the plan year that extends into 2016)  Despite their exemption from the penalty, they are still subject to Code § 6056 reporting for 2015  Must certify on their Code § 6056 reporting filed in 2016 that they qualify for the transition relief in the pay-or-play regulations  Will use Code § 6056 form filed in 2017 to certify for the months of the 2015 plan year that fall in calendar year
Nondiscrimination Requirements  Already apply to self-insured health plans  Application to fully insured plans non-grandfathered plans delayed until regulatory guidance is issued  Eligibility and benefits test  70% participation or coverage offered to a “reasonable classification”  If benefit is offered to one highly compensated employee (HCE), it must be offered to all non-highly compensated employees (NHCEs)  “highly compensated employee” = top 25% of workforce on a controlled group basis 33
Nondiscrimination Requirements  Common employer practices that are considered discriminatory:  Management-only plans  Higher employer contribution to premiums for HCEs (i.e., HCEs pay 20% of premium, while NHCEs pay 30%)  Paying for COBRA coverage for HCEs only  Waiving waiting periods or other eligibility requirements for HCEs only 34
Nondiscrimination Requirements  Penalty = $100 per day per “Affected Persons” (NHCEs) to lesser of 10% of premium or $500,000 35
 Employee Claims under the Act  Workforce Realignment  Independent Review Organizations (IROs)  Claims to Mandated Benefits  Whistleblower Actions The ACA Litigation Minefield 36
ACA LITIGATION UPDATE  Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 573 U.S. _____, 134 S. Ct (U.S. 2014).  Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell, 573 U.S. _____,134 S. Ct (U.S. 2014).  Holding: As applied to closely held corporations, the regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services requiring employers to provide their female employees with no-cost access to contraception violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  Judgment: Affirmed, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Alito on June 30, Justice Ginsburg filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Sotomayor joined, and which Justice Breyer and Justice Kagan joined to all but Part III-C-1. Justice Breyer and Justice Kagan filed a dissenting opinion. 37
MORE ACA LITIGATION  Wheaton College v. Burwell, Sec. of H&HS, Et Al., 573 U.S. ____, 134 S. Ct (U.S. 2014).  Halbig v. Burwell, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS (D.C. Cir. July 22, 2014).  King v. Burwell, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS (4th Cir. Va. 2014). 38
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