2017

As the saying goes, I have some good news and some bad news. For the good news, the IRS has extended good faith relief for information-reporting requirements for the Affordable…

The IRS has extended the 2018 deadlines to provide 2017 health coverage information forms to individuals as required by Affordable Care Act (ACA). The information was included in a new…

As part of tax reform legislation passed by Congress, the individual mandate provision in the ACA requiring every American citizen to obtain health insurance or pay an annual financial penalty…

As we wait for the latest statistics on the number of Americans who have signed up on government exchanges for healthcare insurance coverage for 2018, experts are predicting that the…

The late Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel-winning economist and one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, would be dismayed at action being taken by Republicans in Congress to…

During 2017, the IRS has steadfastly avoided being swayed by the political breezes, even when they seemed to reach hurricane-level velocity. When President Trump and Republicans in Congress were readying…

Throwback Thursday Feature from Wednesday, December 6, 2017. When the U.S. House and Senate Republicans meet in conference to discuss how they will reconcile their two different tax reform legislations, among…

The IRS has announced the penalty amounts for companies with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the…

Updated from original blog post on November 7, 2017. The ACA filing deadlines for the 2017 tax year are fast approaching. With the IRS sending penalty notices for ACA filings…

Updated from original blog post on December 4, 2017. As more organizations start to prepare for the possibility of receiving a holiday greeting from the IRS in the form of…

The IRS has posted information on its website regarding Letter 226J, the initial letter issued to Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) – those organizations with 50 or more full-time or full-time…

There is much political debate about whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has improved healthcare for Americans. The Wharton University scholarly podcast Knowledge@Wharton recently featured Wharton health care management professor…

They say that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, a theory that may be true for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It was just months ago when…

Originally published on November 21, 2017 in “Accounting Today”  The IRS has been sending signals since the summer that it will be enforcing the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. Those signals…

As we enter into the annual Thanksgiving break, there is much to be thankful for. Most lists will include giving thanks for family, friends, and employment. And almost 1.5 million…

The federal government provides free online resources to help small businesses better understand the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and how they might be able to offer health…

It was meant to have the opposite effect. The Trump administration’s decision to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by shortening the annual open enrollment period to 45-days and cutting…

We are well into open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Despite significant increases in premium rates for 2018, enrollment for healthcare coverage on HealthCare.gov is higher than…

The letter no one wants is now in the mail! (click the image for the full letter) Applicable Large Employers (ALEs), employers with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent…

Are deadline extensions and reinstatement of penalty relief for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the cards for employers? The IRS Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC) has recommended the…

It’s the letter no one wants to receive. However, its coming and you need to be prepared just in case your company or client receives it. It is Letter 226J,…

As we reported this week, the IRS has issued guidance on its plans to issue penalty notices by the end of this year to Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) it believes…

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first enacted in 2010, the mission was clear: provide affordable healthcare to the millions of Americans without it. Depending on who you speak…

Now is the time to be assessing where you stand in gathering the necessary information necessary for filing ACA-mandated information with the IRS. Organizations with more than 50 full-time or…

As we reported earlier this year, indications from the IRS pointed to the agency sending enforcement notices by December 2017 to businesses with 50 or more employees – referred to…

The IRS provides a variety of resources to assist organizations in better understanding the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Here’s are some that we hope you will find…

You can expect to see a slight increase in IRS penalties related to the Affordable Care Act for the 2018 and 2019 tax filing seasons, which reflect reporting for the…

Open enrollment for individuals to purchase healthcare coverage through government exchanges begins tomorrow and runs through December 15. Both advocates and opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are anxious…

A bipartisan Senate bill that would continue cost sharing payments to insurance companies and provide states more flexibility in addressing healthcare issues is quietly gaining momentum. The U.S. Senate’s Committee…

While President Trump does his best to undermine the Affordable Care Act, the American public wants it to succeed. Americans don’t want the Affordable Care Act (ACA) destroyed. They want…

Over the last few years, pocket neighborhoods of Spanish speaking individuals have produced significant language barriers when it comes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Many whose primary language is…

Over the past few months, the IRS has been moving forward with preparations for the ACA-mandated filings for the 2017 tax reporting year. Here’s what we know so far about…

Perhaps only time will tell if President Trump can succeed where Republicans in Congress have failed to obliterate the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The President’s ambitious attempts to derail the…

In yet another sign that the IRS will be enforcing the Affordable Care Act, the IRS’s ACA Information Center for Taxpaying Professionals is providing updated guidance that it will require…

Bipartisan discussions spearheaded by the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions may lead to legislation that will continue cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurance companies providing health…

While the White House and many Republicans in Washington, D.C., seem intent on undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the statehouse in Sacramento is doing something to bolster it. The…

The Executive Order directed at the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was signed by President Trump last week addresses three areas he claims will expand healthcare choices to Americans. The…

States are taking more aggressive action to curb drug costs. It’s self-preservation. Prescription drug expenditures are nearly 20 percent of U.S. health care costs. According to the National Academy for…

The latest news surrounding our nation’s healthcare has kept many on the edges of their seats, but for the moment, those who most benefit from the Affordable Care Act can…

The IRS has followed the release of the 2017 forms for filing Affordable Care Act (ACA)-mandated information with the IRS for the 2017 tax year with the instructions for the…

It’s become a bit of a sport. Websites and media outlets are tracking ways that the Trump administration has been working to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Organizations such as…

There were mixed results yesterday in Congress as Senate and House committees considered bills reauthorizing funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The program provided healthcare coverage to 8.9…

Despite a recent declaration that Congress will focus on tax reform, the need to address critical healthcare issues remains. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey found that a large…

The IRS continues to prepare for employers to file ACA-mandated information with the IRS for the 2017 tax year. The IRS is now making the new Form 1094-C and Form…

The Affordable Care Act raised the ante on providing health insurance to Americans for U. S. businesses. It mandated that applicable large employers (those with 50 or more full-time employees…

With the GOP’s last-ditch attempt in Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA)done for now, President Trump introduced the idea of working with Democrats to change healthcare…

The on again, off again effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) finally fizzled out yesterday when Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate declined to bring to…

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped more Americans obtain health insurance than ever before. Most of the discussion around issues with the ACA has focused on the individual market…

GrubHub is on trial for a case of employee misclassification involving its drivers. The drivers allege they were misclassified by the on-demand food delivery app as independent contractors and not…

The IRS released Notice 2017-41 last month, informing health insurance issuers of further guidance surrounding the reporting of catastrophic plan coverage acquired through the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace. It’s the…