As part of their annual filing of healthcare coverage information with the IRS, organizations must determine if they are Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) for purposes of the Affordable Care Act…
Legislation
-
-
Affordable Care ActHealth Care ReformHealth Insurance ExchangesLegislationPolitical Parties
Bipartisan Senate Bill Quietly Gaining Momentum
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA 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…
-
Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Care ReformHealth Insurance MarketplaceLegislation
Americans Don’t Want President Trump to Destroy the Affordable Care Act
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile 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…
-
HealthcareLegislation
New Ambitious Bill Proposes to Legalize Marijuana Across The Nation
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOne of the long running controversies in America is whether marijuana should be legalized. A new bill introduced by New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker proposes to legalize marijuana on…
-
HealthcareLegislation
Congress Moves Toward Bipartisan Approaches to Address Healthcare Issues
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA spirit of bipartisanship in Congress seems to be rising from the rubble of the failed Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The first test of…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
Updated Better Care Reconciliation Act Released
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe U.S. Senate has released a new, updated draft of the Republican-proposed Better Care Reconciliation Act aimed at winning over Republican Senators who were not enamored of the initially proposed…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
Case of Whistleblower Demonstrates ACA Protections for Healthcare Workers
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) upheld the anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation provisions contained in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These “whistleblower provisions,” among…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
McCarran-Ferguson Antitrust Exemption Is Eliminated After 70 Years
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Affordable Care Act may be here to stay, but changes to antitrust laws may affect how the healthcare insurance industry does business. The House of Representatives approved legislation that…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
The GOP Wins ACA Funding Dispute, But Perhaps Not For Long
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOn Thursday (May 12), a federal court judge ruled against the White House’s favor, with regard to an allocation of funds spent with the ACA’s subsidy program. This program was…
-
Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageLegislationPolitical PartiesPolls/Surveys
Voters Say The ACA Is Not a Key Issue
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile many Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail vilify the Affordable Care Act, American voters across the country are not particularly focused on the health care law as…
-
LegislationRegulations
2016 Massachusetts Insurance Mandate Penalties
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMassachusetts residents who fail to comply with the state’s mandatory health insurance requirement – widely regarded as a model for the Affordable Care Act – may be subject to penalties…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
Contraception Back Before Supreme Court
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAt the request the Obama administration, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case centered on religious freedom and access to contraception under the Act. The court will hear…
-
Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageLegislationRegulations
Tax Considerations During Open Enrollment
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe is alerting consumers to three matters they should consider while purchasing or renewing via an online . When a consumer applies for assistance to help pay the premiums for…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
ACA Automatic Enrollment Repealed
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe “automatic enrollment” provision of the Affordable Care Act, never enforced, has been repealed under the budget deal hammered out between Congress and the White House and signed into law…
-
Well over a million low-income Americans could lose the subsidies they receive under the Affordable Care Act because they failed to file federal income tax returns, failed to include IRS…
-
If You Don’t Have SSNs, Keep Asking for Them Many of the forms employers will have to file with the IRS early in 2016 ask for Social Security or taxpayer…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
Voters In Key States Want ACA to Stay
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA majority of likely voters in five key battleground states – Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia – believe the Affordable Care Act is here to stay (64%) and want…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
ACA Definition of ‘Small Employer’ is Revised
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA bill aimed at protecting employees from possible increases in healthcare insurance costs under the Affordable Care Act passed both the House of Representatives and Senate, and has been signed…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
Robert Sheen Speaks to HR Executives on ACA Compliance
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAmerican employers must deal with new IRS reporting obligations and the possibility of hefty penalties because of the Affordable Care Act, Robert S. Sheen, Editor of the ACA Times and…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
House Can Sue Administration on ACA Funding
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe House of Representatives can pursue its lawsuit against the Obama Administration that claims funding of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act violate the Constitution. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of…
-
EditorialsLegislationRegulations
Penalties Double For ACA Filing Failures
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPenalties for failure to satisfy the complex IRS filing requirements resulting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have just doubled. With filing deadlines approaching, employers should act quickly to ensure…
-
LegislationRegulationsUncategorized
ACA Reporting Requirements For Large Employers
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenCompanies with 50 or more full-time employees should be gathering information now for Affordable Care Act reports they will have to provide to the IRS and to their employees early…
-
LegislationRegulations
Misclassifying Workers Can Trigger Two Penalties
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenEmployers are facing increased scrutiny by the Department of Labor, the and state regulators over possible misclassification employees as independent contractors or freelance workers. A DOL memo states that the…
-
EditorialsLegislationRegulations
Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore The ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenLike all owners of small businesses, the men and women who run construction Companies had more than enough to do before the Affordable Care Act added one more task —…
-
EditorialsLegislation
ACA Reporting Update: New Forms, Higher Penalties
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenACA Reporting Update: New Forms, Higher Penalties By Damian A. Myers Damian Myers is an Associate in the Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and ERISA Litigation Practice Center in the Washington,…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationMedicaid/Medicare
Medicare and Medicaid Popular After 50 Years
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law on July 30th 50 years ago, opponents attacked the programs as wasteful, intrusive and a precursor to socialism or communism. Today both…
-
LegislationRegulationsUncategorized
IRS on Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Internal Revenue Service has issued a reminder to employers about specific “shared responsibility” provisions of the Affordable Care Act that may affect them. The size and structure of a…
-
New reporting requirements mandated by the Affordable Care Act are posing challenges to large and small companies, and most employers have made little progress on deciding on or implementing a…
-
LegislationRegulations
California Health Insurance Rates To Rise By 4%
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenCalifornia’s Affordable Care Act exchange, known as Covered California, has negotiated an average 4% increase in premiums for the 1.3 million residents of the state who buy individual insurance through…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislationRegulations
ACA Offers Help For Informal Caregivers
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMillions of Americans who provide unpaid care for ill, disabled or aged family members or friends can now get help through the Affordable Care Act for their own physical and…
-
LegislationRegulations
New Rules on Religious Objections to Birth Control
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Obama administration has unveiled new rules aiming to address religious objections by to providing birth control to female employees as required by the Act. We’re committed to helping companies…
-
EditorialsLegislationRegulations
Impact of ‘King’ on Applicable Large Employers
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenImpact of ‘King’ on Applicable Large Employers The Supreme Court’s decision in ‘King v. Burwell’ had ramifications for “applicable large employers” that went beyond approving payment of insurance subsidies in…
-
The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers offer coverage to everyone, including those with serious pre-existing medical expenses, has not resulted in a surge of hight-cost claims. The federal agency…
-
LegislationRegulations
After ‘King’ Ruling, States Look at Medicaid Expansion
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenNow that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the administration’s position in the ‘King v. Burwell’ case, supporting the legality of Affordable Care Act subsidies in all states,…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
Supreme Court Rules ACA Subsidies Are Legal
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIn a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on June 25th that it is legal for government subsidies under the Affordable Care Act to be available to all Americans, as…
-
A Republican Congressman has introduced to help individuals who would lose their insurance subsidies if the Supreme Court rules in favour of the plaintiffs in the “King v. Burwell” case.…
-
The House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 160, which would repeal the 2.3% excise tax on medical device manufacturers imposed under the Affordable Care Act and intended to help…
-
LegislationMinimum Essential CoverageRegulations
Article: Reporting 2015 Coverage of “MV-lite” Plans
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenSome employers have used “MV-lite” plans that offer very limited hospital and doctor benefits, yet technically satisfy the “minimum value” calculations of the government’s online calculator. These plans have been…
-
Affordable Care ActLegislation
Appeals Court Bars Challenge to ACA Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to the individual and employer mandates of the Affordable Care Act. The court ruled that the taxpayer who filed the lawsuit…
-
Final regulations on employer-provided wraparound coverage under the Affordable Care Act were issued by the IRS and Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor. Wraparound coverage is employer-sponsored coverage…
-
President Obama announced the creation of a new advisory panel charged with improving the ability of the Veterans Affairs Department to meet the healthcare needs patients and beneficiaries. The 14…
-
Republican members of the House and Senate unveiled a proposed alternative to theAffordable Care Act. It would eliminate the individual and employer mandate, provide a tax credit to help offset…
-
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) reintroduced to eliminate the companies enacted through Section 10 the Act. “This is yet another hidden healthcare arbitrarily created to pay for ,”Hatch said. “Raising…
-
Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman the Senate Finance , introduced a bipartisan bill to repeal the 2.3% medical device enacted as the Act. Five Democrats and four Republicans signed…
-
The House Representatives passed a bill that would exempt volunteer firefighters and other emergency responder’s from being counted as full-time employees under the Affordable Care Act. We’re committed to helping…
-
The House Representatives, ignoring a veto threat from President Barack Obama, passed a bill Thursday that would ease the requirement under the Act for to provide to their workers. The measure,…
-
Republican members the House Representatives announced Friday, Nov. 21st, that they have filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration’s “unilateral actions” implementing the Act. The lawsuit says the administration unlawfully…