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Healthcare Reform is Here to Stay
ObamaCare and What Every Employer Needs to Know to
Prepare for 2013 and 2014
The polls are closed, the results are in.
What provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) take effect next?
Nukk-Freeman & Cerra is here to help you prepare as Healthcare Reform provisions continue to move forward. If you have any questions regarding how to prepare for the Affordable Care Act mandates coming up in 2013 and 2014, please contact Christine Gottesman or the Nukk-Freeman & Cerra attorney with whom you normally work. It is vital that employers understand these changes and the ultimate effect on their businesses and employees.
Summary of Benefits and Coverage
This is a new description of benefits and coverage that must be provided with Open Enrollment Materials for your group health plans starting with the first Open Enrollment period after September 23, 2013. Employers should verify with their health plan insurers that the new summaries have been prepared and that they are ready to be distributed during the upcoming Open Enrollment period.
Health Care Flexible Spending Account Contributions
Limited to $2,500
Effective for 2013, health care Flexible Spending Account contributions are limited to $2,500. If your cafeteria plan currently permits health care flexible spending contributions over $2,500, the plan should be amended and participants should be informed of this new limit.
Employer-Provided Notices of Exchanges and Premium Tax Credits
Beginning March 1, 2013, employers are required to provide all employees with written notice of their health coverage options, including information about health insurance exchanges and premium tax credit eligibility. Employers should check with their health plan insurer to make sure they will prepare these notices for distribution.
Employer Mandates
Employers with 50 or more "full time equivalent" employees are subject to the Employer Mandates and should start planning for them now. The Employer Mandates require employees to offer affordable health coverage to their full-time employees or pay a penalty. Because these mandates become effective in 2014, any employer subject to the Employer Mandates should start by determining if eligibility and/or contribution levels of the employer's health plan should be changed to comply.
W-2 Reporting
Large employers (250+) must report the health insurance value starting with the 2012 W-2s. Small employers are not subject to this requirement until notice from the IRS.
New regulations are expected to be released soon on nondiscrimination and automatic enrollment. We will keep you informed when those regulations are released by the Department of Labor.
Nukk-Freeman & Cerra is available to review your health plan(s) and help you comply with the Affordable Care Act. Please feel free to contact Christine Gottesman or the Nukk-Freeman & Cerra attorney with whom you to discuss the Affordable Care Act.
Any tax advice included in this written or electronic communication is not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer or any governmental taxing authority or agency.
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