In response to a request for comments from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), AGC submitted comments regarding the proposed employer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also known as the health care reform law. The reporting requirements will be used to verify the individual and employer mandates. The concerns of AGC’s member companies were addressed via joint comments submitted by the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-FLEX) – a coalition group of leading trade associations, large businesses and employer-sponsored health plans. AGC also submitted an independently-drafted letter specifically addressing the needs of construction employers requirement to make contributions to multiemployer health plans pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Both letters were submitted in response to proposed regulations requiring large employers to share with full-time employees and the IRS information about health care coverage offered the previous year. The proposed regulations state that employers must, on a monthly basis, provide a list of all full-time employees, the coverage offered to those employees and the costs of the coverage. Additional proposed regulations require insurers, as well as self-insured plans and multiemployer health plans, to report, in detail, the coverage provided to participants. The IRS would use the data provided by employers and plans to verify compliance with the law’s employer and individual mandates. By statute, both the employer and insurer requirements are scheduled to begin in 2016.
The E-FLEX comment letter requests a more streamlined approach to the reporting process in order to help employers and individuals retain their existing coverage. The letter also asks the Obama administration to reevaluate the necessity of the data that is being collected from employers with regard to what is actually needed to administer the law.
AGC’s comment letter complements the E-FLEX letter by specifically addressing the impact of the proposed regulations on employers that contribute to multiemployer plans. Often, the health plan information needed to satisfy the reporting requirements proposed in the rules is not readily available to these employers, making it more difficult to accurately report on the coverage provided to their employees. As a result, AGC asked that these employers be allowed to satisfy the reporting requirements by reporting that they contribute to a multiemployer group health plan for all employees who perform work under a CBA. In addition, AGC asked for a permanent extension of a previously announced safe harbor for employers that contribute to multiemployer group health plans with regard to the requirement to provide minimal essential coverage to full time employees and their dependents. The current transition relief, which expires in 2014, states that an applicable large employer will not be subject to a penalty for failing to offer minimum essential coverage to a full-time employee and his or her dependents if the employer is required to make a contribution to a multiemployer plan with respect to the full-time employee pursuant to a CBA, if coverage under the multiemployer plan is offered to the full-time employee and his or her dependents, and if the coverage offered is affordable and provides minimum value.
AGC will continue to monitor for any new developments and will notify members once final regulations are issued. For additional information and resources on the employer requirements of the ACA, visit AGC’s ACA compliance assistance webpage at www.agc.org/healthcarereform.