The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Revenue Procedure 2018-34 which includes details about the affordability percentage related to the Employer Mandate for the upcoming year. In 2019, coverage will be considered affordable if the employee’s share of the premium for self-only coverage is no more than 9.86% of their household income. As most employers don’t know the household income of their employees, three alternative safe harbor methods may be used:

 

Two things happened in 1986. Run-D.M.C released their hit song, “It’s Tricky,” and COBRA became effective. Thirty-two years later, Run-D.M.C.’s music is still popular, and COBRA administration is still tricky—especially when it comes to Flexible Spending Account (FSAs). Add FSA carryover to the mix, and it gets even trickier.

 

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the status of the Individual Mandate, so we thought it would be appropriate to provide some clarification on its status.