Overview of Grandfathered Plans The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains many provisions that affect employer-sponsored health coverage. The extent of the ACA’s impact depends, in part, on whether an employer’s health plan has “grandfathered” status. Grandfathered plans can avoid a number of the ACA’s reforms. A grandfathered plan is a group health plan or health [...]
On Dec. 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 into law. The Act includes a $900 billion coronavirus relief package that provides funding for unemployment benefits, direct economic payments to individuals, vaccine distribution and rental assistance. It also includes the No Surprises Act, a ban on surprise medical bills, which takes effect [...]
Since 2020, employers have been able to offer individual coverage HRAs (ICHRAs) to help employees pay for individual health insurance. ICHRAs were established by a final rule published on June 20, 2019, which raised questions about how existing federal rules will apply to ICHRAs. On Jan. 13, 2021, the IRS issued a final rule to [...]
On Jan. 19, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extended an existing transition policy for certain health plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for an additional year, to policy years beginning on or before Oct. 1, 2022. However, all noncompliant plans renewed under this extended transition policy [...]
On Dec. 11, 2020, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury (Departments) announced a final rule that provides greater flexibility for grandfathered plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A grandfathered plan is a group health plan or health insurance coverage that was in existence on March 23, 2010 (the [...]
On Jan. 28, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that is intended to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid. Exchange Special Enrollment Period This executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider establishing a special enrollment period through Federally Facilitated Exchanges due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) [...]
Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting under Section 6055 and Section 6056 for the 2020 calendar year is due in early 2021. Specifically, reporting entities must: File returns with the IRS by March 1, 2021, since Feb. 28, 2021, is a Sunday (or March 31, 2021, if filing electronically); and Furnish statements to individuals by March [...]
Form W-2 Reporting Requirements The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to report the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored group health plan coverage on their employees’ Forms W-2. The purpose of the reporting requirement is to provide information to employees regarding how much their health coverage costs. The reporting does not mean that the cost of [...]
On Jan. 19, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) for 2022 that finalized some of the standards included in the proposed notice issued at the end of 2020. The NBPP describes benefit and payment parameters under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that apply [...]
