Employers
Small businesses often times find it hard to provide quality health insurance coverage to employees, especially during these unique times. Let’s face the reality! Health insurance usually comes with a high price tag, and small businesses may not be able to meet the contribution or participation requirements to provide a traditional group health plan to employees.
Premium Reimbursement Arrangements (PRAs) can generally be described as tax-free programs which are offered by employers to reimburse employees for health insurance coverage they obtain on their own. Below is a summary of the most common PRAs.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created a research institute known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The goal of PCORI is to help patients and those who care for them make better-informed decisions about healthcare choices. PCORI is funded in part by fees which are charged to health plans. The following information is designed to help employers understand their upcoming payment obligations.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently proposed rules that would expand the definition of medical expenses allowed under Section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”). This part of the Code is what helps guide the types expenses that can be reimbursed through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA).
Health Savings Account News
You may have previously heard that the 2019 federal tax filing deadline was extended until July 15, 2020. In the event you were unaware, contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for the prior year can be made up until the tax filing deadline. The tax filing extension is impactful to HSAs for two reasons:
The Employer Mandate requires employers with 50 or more employees to offer “minimum essential coverage” to at least 95% of its full-time employees. Failure to do so can result in a penalty of $2,570 for each full-time with a break on the first 30 employees. Most employers assume minimum essential coverage must come in the form of a traditional group health insurance plan, but that is not the case.
Many employee benefit laws only apply to employers who have a certain number of employees. The challenging part is that each law has its own definition and rules on how to count the number of employees when determining if a law applies to an employer. Here are some key examples:
The regulatory agencies have been busy issuing guidance these last several weeks. Here are some important updates in case you missed them:
Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) can be otherwise described as premium reimbursement plans. Employers establish a plan to reimburse employees for health insurance coverage they obtain on their own; either a plan obtained in the individual health insurance market or through Medicare. Reimbursements are tax-free to employees and tax-deductible to employers.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Notice 2020-29 and Notice 2020-33 which provide substantial changes to Cafeteria Plans, Health Flexible Spending Accounts (Health FSAs) and Dependent Care Assistance Programs (commonly referred to as Dependent Care FSAs).
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