Source: http://counsel.cua.edu/fedlaw/Form.cfm
Timestamp: 2015-05-06 05:24:18
Document Index: 39489890

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6055', '§ 6055', '§ 6056', '§156', 'arts 1', '§ 6051']

This law amends the Public Health Service Act, as well as the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA.
Under Section 6041 of the IRC, persons engaged in a trade or business who make payments of at least $600 per year to another person must file an information return (Form 1099) with the IRS and provide a copy to the payee.
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act the information reporting requirements are expanded beginning with payments made after Dec. 31, 2011. Payments to corporations will no longer be automatically exempt from reporting requirements. Second, the types of payments that trigger reporting are expanded to include amounts paid in consideration of property and other gross proceeds.
The list of payments prior to Jan. 1, 2012 includes *rent, salaries, wages, premiums, annuities, compensations, remunerations, emoluments, or other fixed or determinable gains, profits and income.*
For payments made after Dec. 31, 2011, the following are examples of payments included in the reporting requirement: *payments for merchandise such as office equipment, food, bottled water, and other items, possibly including travel, telephone and Internet service.*
See IRS Notice 2010-51 for a summary and request for comments on the new reporting requirements, which includes a requirement that businesses, including non-profit and tax exempt organizations annually report to the IRS payments they made to suppliers of goods and services during the previous year totaling more than $600.
A copy of the report must also go to the vendor. The university would have to obtain the TIN from the vendor to include it on the report. Credit card payments are exempt.
March 5, 2014 IRS Fact Sheet on Final Regulations Implementing Information Reporting for Employers and Insurers Under Affordable Care Act
Notice 2013-45 Transition Relief for 2014 Under §§ 6055 (§ 6055 Information Reporting), 6056 (§ 6056 Information Reporting) and 4980H (Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions)***
Notice regarding delaying employer shared responsibility provisions of PPACA until 2015. Employers who wish to use a 12 month stability period in 2015, will need a full look back 12 month measurement period, thus still requiring tracking of # and hours of employees in 2014.
Shared Responsiblity for Employers Regarding Health Coverage, Final Rule, 79 Fed. Reg. 8544,Feb. 12, 2014.
The regulations take effect on January 1, 2015, but are only partially applicable in 2015. They clarify the definition of "full-time employee" and provide safe harbors intended to make it easier for employers to determine whether the coverage they offer is affordable to employees. See the Treasury Department Fact Sheet for a short summary.
A Littler publication dated 2-24-14 by Ilyse Schuman notes the following of interest to IHEs:
Delayed Implementation: For each calendar month during 2015 and any calendar months during the 2015 plan year that fall in 2016, employers with 100 or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) will not be subject to a penalty for failing to provide minimum essential coverage under Section 4980H(a) if the employer offers coverage to at least 70% (instead of 95%) of its full-time employees (and their dependents). Beginning in 2016, such an employer must offer coverage to at least 95% of its full-time employees (and their dependents) to avoid paying the penalty under Section 4980H(a). See also the Gallagher Benefit Services Feb. 2014 article titled The Administration Again Delays the Employer Shared Responsiblity Mandate:
• Adjunct faculty: The final regulations provide as a general rule that, until further guidance is issued, employers of adjunct faculty are to use a method of crediting hours of service for those employees that is reasonable in the circumstances and consistent with the employer responsibility provisions. However, to accommodate the need for predictability and ease of administration and consistent with the request for a “bright line” approach suggested in a number of the comments, the final regulations expressly allow crediting an adjunct faculty member with 2 ¼ hours of service per week for each hour of teaching or classroom time as a reasonable method for this purpose.
- See more at: http://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/irs-final-rule-partially-delays-aca-employer-shared-responsibility-r-0#sthash.rcOR8KKG.dpuf
Final Rule on Additional Medicare Tax, 78 Fed. Reg. 71468, Nov. 29, 2103
This is a 0.9% Medicare surtax, and the rules set forth the process for employers who are required to withhold the tax on individual earners making over $200,000 in a given calendar year. If the employer fails to deduct, the employer can be liable until the employee pays the tax. The tax went into effect Jan. 1, 2013.
Final Rule on Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program: Essential Health Benefits in Alternative Benefit Plans, Eligiblity Notices, Fair Hearings and Appeal Processes and Premiums and Cost Sharing; Exchange: Eligiblity and Enrollment, to be published in July 15, 2103 Federal Register. All 606 pages.See page 356 for the statement that a simple attestation from an applicant that he or she qualifies will suffice for an applicant applying to an exchange.
One Year Delay on Implementation of Employer Mandate, July 2, 2013 Announcement by Treasury (Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy)
Treasury states it will provide an additional year before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin, and will provide formal guidance concerning the transition during the week of July 8. The transition relief will make it impractical to determine which employers owe shared responsibility payments (under section 4980H) for 2014. The government thus extends transition relief to employers on shared responsibility payments. These payments will not apply for 2014. Any employer shared responsibility payments will not apply until 2015. The contraceptive mandate is not affected by this rule. For the cases and regulations affecting/contesting the contraceptive mandate please see the Religious Issues page.
Incentives for Non-Discriminatory Wellness Programs in Group Health Programs, Final Rule, 78 Fed. Reg. 33157, June 3, 2013. Effective August 2, 2013, these final regulations increase the maximum permissible reward under a health-contingent wellness program offered in connection with a group health plan (and any related health insurance coverage) from 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of coverage. The final regulations further increase the maximum permissible reward to 50 percent for wellness programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use. These regulations also include other clarifications regarding the reasonable design of health-contingent wellness programs and the reasonable alternatives they must offer in order to avoid prohibited discrimination.
American Council on Education Letter to Treasury Department (July 16, 2013) on the proposed rule issued by Treasury Department implementing the employer shared responsibility mandate under the ACA. The comments outline how the department could revise the final regulations to ensure campuses can continue to employ students in work study programs and cooperative education programs and internships as well as meet the goals of the ACA to ensure broad access to sufficient, affordable health insurance coverage.
American Council on Education Comments (March 13, 2013) to the IRS on Proposed Coverage for Adjunct Faculty and Student Campus Employees under the ACA
Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Programs; Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership or Investment Interests; Final Rule. 78 Fed. Reg. 9458, Feb. 8, 2013. Effective date: These regulations are effective on April 9, hat provision requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under title XVIII of the Act (Medicare) or a State plan under title XIX (Medicaid) or XXI of the Act (the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP) to report annually to the Secretary certain payments or other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. Section 1128G of the Act also requires applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to report certain information regarding the ownership or investment interests held by physicians or the immediate family members of physicians in such entities.2013.
Student Health Insurance, PPACA, Health Insurance Market Rules, Final Rule, 78 Fed. Reg. 13406, Feb. 27, 2013. Section 147.145 of the final rule provides that non-grandfathered student health insurance coverage is not subject to the single risk pool requirement of Sec. 1312(c) of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or to the guaranteed availability or guaranteed renewability requirements of Secs. 2702 and 2703 of the ACA. As a result, the final rule permits separate risk pooling and experience rating for student coverage based on the eligible campus population of students and their dependents. The final rule is effective April 29, 2013.
PPACA, Miscellaneous Minimum Essential Coverage Provisions, 78 Fed. Reg. 7348, Feb. 1, 2013. Includes Student Health Insurance Plans. The proposed rule at §156.602 declares that self-funded student health coverage offered to students by an institution of higher education as defined in the Higher Education Act, where the institution assumes the risk for payment of claims, qualifies as minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Individuals covered by these plans would not be subject to the shared responsibility payment for not maintaining minimum essential coverage required by Sec. 5000A of the ACA. Proposed Rules on Employer Shared Responsibility for Health Coverage, issued by IRS 1-2-13 (see actual Federal Register Notice) to amend 26 CFR Parts 1, 54, and 301. See Gallagher Benefit Services Jan. 2013 newsletter titled Defintion of a Large Employer under New Employer Shared Responsibility Regulations.
See also IRS Proposes Regulations for Employer Penalty under PPACA for a summary of when the penalty would be triggered. No penalty is triggered unless at least one full time employee obtains subsidized Exchange Coverage. The employer would then have a chance to show it met the mandatory coverage minimum value and affordablity test.
Q and A on the Employer Shared Responisiblity Provisions under the Affordable Care Act, IRS web page, 12-28-12 The Provisions are effective Jan. 1, 2014.
National Federation of Independent Business et al v. Sebelius et al., June 28, 2012 U.S. Supreme Court
With Chief Justice Roberts as swing vote, Supreme Court found the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Constitutional. As summarized on the SCOTUS blog: "The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn't comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding."
American Council on Education comments on Proposed Rules Relating to Student Health Insurance, April 12, 2011. See also Sara Lipka's article dated April 13, 2011 in the Chronicle titled Student Health Plans Merit Special Treatment Under the New Health Care Law, Colleges and Insurers Say.
Student Health Insurance Final Rule, 77 Fed. Reg. 16453, March 21, 2012
This rule brings all except for self funded student health plans under the purview of the PPACA by defining student health insurance as a type of individual health coverage. The contraceptive mandate is made applicable to student health insurance plans as well, through this action. The amendment applies to plans effective for policy years beginning after July 1, 2012, with non-profit religious institutions of higher edcation qualifying for a one year transition plan until the plan year beginning after August 1, 2013. The rule becomes effective April 20, 2012. There is a phase in for restrictions on annual dollar limits, with no annual dollar limits for policy years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. If the student health insurance plan is not a grandfathered plan, then effective with the upcoming policy year, religious institutions of higher education will be required to maintain on file a self certification as to the qualfication for the exemption and sending a *requisite notice* to students enrolled in the plan. This notice presumably means the notice that the institution the plan qualifies for a safe harbor, and may have to direct the student as to where to find contraceptive coverage. As with much of the mandate and related abortion coverage (see below on health exchanges) the rules are anything but clear. See "Catholic Colleges Upset by HHS Rule Requiring Student Health Plans to Comply with Mandate" posted 3/21/12 in the National Catholic Register. The article notes as follows: Catholic colleges and universities do not qualify for the narrow religious exemption to the mandate. Rather, they will likely fall under a second set of guidelines that the Obama administration describes as its “accommodation” for religious freedom.
Ave Maria University v. Kathleen Sebelius et al
(Middle District Fla. No 12-CV-88) (filed Feb. 21, 2012)
Geneva College v. Kathleen Sebelius et al. (Western District Pennsylvania) (filed Feb. 21, 2012)
States of Nebraska et al. v. U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services, et al. (U.S. District Court District of Nebraska) (filed Feb. 23, 2012)
Proposed Rule, Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary, PPACA, 76 Fed. Reg. 52442, August 22, 2011. This document contains proposed regulations (implementing 2715 of the Act) regarding disclosure of the summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) and the uniform glossary for group health plans and health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The proposed rule sets standards for group health plans and their plan administrators and health insurance issuers offering group or individual coverage that will govern who provides an SBC, when it will be provided and how it will be provided. Compliance would be required by March 23, 2012.
Amendment to the Interim Final Rules for Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Relating to Status as a Grandfathered Health Plan Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 75 Fed. Reg. 70114, Nov. 17, 2010. Effective Nov. 15, 2010. The interim final regulations, published on June 17, 2010, with various additions and clarifications on other dates. This amendment modifies the interim final regulations plan to cease to be a grandfathered health plan if the plan entered into a new policy, certificate, or contract of insurance. The modification provides that a group health plan does not cease to be grandfathered health plan coverage merely because the plan (or its sponsor)
enters into a new policy, certificate, or contract of insurance after March 23,2010.Notwithstanding the ability to change health insurance coverage pursuant to the modification made by the amendment, if the new policy,
certificate, or contract of insurance includes changes described in paragraph (g)(1) of the interim final
regulations, the plan ceases to be a grandfathered health plan. There are, in other words, many ways to cease being a grandfathered plan, the law is slanted that way, so many will not try to maintain this status, as they lose flexiblity on other issues.
IRS Notice 2010-69 Interim Relief with Respect to Form W-2 Reporting on the Cost of Coverage of Group Health Insurance under Section 6051(a)(14) issued Nov. 1, 2010
This notice provides interim relief to employers with respect to reporting the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, pursuant to § 6051(a)(14) of the Code. Specifically, this notice provides that reporting the cost of such coverage will not be mandatory for 2011 Forms W-2. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that this relief is appropriate to provide employers with additional time to make any necessary changes to their payroll systems or procedures in preparation for compliance with the reporting requirement.
Section 2713. Coverage of Preventive Services
‘‘(4) with respect to women, such additional preventive care and screenings not described in paragraph (1) as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration for purposes of this paragraph.
‘‘(5) for the purposes of this Act, and for the purposes of any other provision of law, the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Service Task Force regarding breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention shallbe considered the most current other than those issued in
Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions for Large Employers: IRS page with summary, reporting and payment and provisions.
Another IRS Summary page, wtih comprehensive list Joint Committee on Taxation Present Law and Background Relating to the Tax Related Provisions in the Affordable Care Act, March 5, 2013.
CRS August 6, 2010 Report From 1099 Information Reporting Requirements as Modified by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
NACUANOTES: Volume 12, No. 5--Applying the Affordable Care Act's Employer Mandate Rules in the College and University Setting May 2, 2014
NACUANOTES: Health Care Reform and Its Effect on Student Health Plans; May 13, 2011
updated 5/6/14 CCR
updated 3-14-14 to add Final Rule ACA Employer Shared Responsibility
updated 4-9-14 to add W-2 reporting