ACA Penalties To Hit $228 Billion
2015 marked the first year where the Affordable Care Act was arguably set into clear motion, as new policies and mandates from employer to employee and covering others were just getting acclimated to new procedures. This was all in the midst of working with health insurance providers along with claiming coverage on 2015 tax returns. The margin of error was inevitable, but going forward, penalties can and will stack up.
HealthAffairs.org reports ten-year projections by Congress regarding penalties and the estimates are astonishing. During the ten-year period from 2017 through 2026 (provided the Affordable Care Act remains in effect), the Congressional Budget Office in conjunction with the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that employer responsibility penalties will see a staggering $228 billion. The individual mandate penalty will yield a projected $38 billion, along with the Cadillac Tax bringing $18 billion. Health insurance providers are estimated to be taxed $156 billion.
For the ten-year period between 2016 through 2025, the CBO projects a $1.344 trillion cost of coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That is a $136 billion jump from 2015’s 10-year projection of $1.207 billion. While it’s still marginally less than earlier projections, it does turn the spotlight onto employers who can avoid overspending on penalties by ensuring ACA compliance.
There are many ways to achieve this; however, First Capitol Consulting has implemented a risk-assessment tool for employers to ensure ACA compliance. The site includes a helpful questionnaire where employers can input information about their company, yielding results that analyze their compliance with the As Congress has a decade-long projection of accruing money from employer penalties, the best protection is to ensure compliance.
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