Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently enacted legislation that makes the ACA’s pre-existing conditions provision state law. The move ensures that residents of The Great Lakes State have continued access to …
Individual Mandate
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Affordable Care Act
National Uninsured Rate Reaches All-Time Low in 2023
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report showing that the national uninsured rate reached an all-time low of 7.7 percent in early 2023. This …
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Affordable Care Act
ACA Reporting to Grow in Complexity Due to State Individual Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenACA reporting is complex and the process has only grown more challenging as states continue to enact additional state-level ACA reporting requirements as a function of their Individual Mandates. But …
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3 min read The Supreme Court case in which the Justices consider whether the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional without the Individual Mandate will see a judicial decision any day …
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Affordable Care Act
What California Residents Need to Know About the Individual Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: This year will mark the first year that California residents will face a new reality of the Individual Mandate. While 2019 was a year of reprieve from …
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Affordable Care Act
Protect App-Based Drivers Act Would Create Further Employee Classification and ACA Reporting Issues
3 minute read: As part of their campaign against the requirements of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which went into effect January 2020 and requires employers to treat contract workers …
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2 minute read: While Trump Administration shot down the idea of a special ACA enrollment period to help individuals who have lost their coverage due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, states …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Federal Special Enrollment Period on the Horizon
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The Trump Administration is doing the unexpected and considering a special ACA enrollment period in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The special enrollment period will provide uninsured …
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2 minutes read: Due to the enormous challenges the coronavirus crisis is imposing on our healthcare system, the state of California has extended its Special Enrollment period. Effective immediately, the …
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2 minute read: The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, for a second time. This unusual turn of events comes after the …
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Affordable Care Act
ACA Changes Continue to Stabilize the Marketplace
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: According to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), there will be an average of 4.5 insurers per state this year, up from 4.0 in 2019 and …
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Affordable Care Act
California Health Exchange Welcomes New Enrollees Thanks to Individual Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: As California finalizes its initial open enrollment results, the data shows the state’s Individual Mandate played a part in the higher turnout. According to Covered California, the …
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3 minute read: Several states and the District of Columbia are taking pains to make sure the Individual Mandate under the Patient and Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is …
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Affordable Care Act
What to Expect from California’s Individual Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The new year is almost upon us and a number of states including California will have their statewide Individual Mandate take effect. Come January 1, 2020 employers …
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Affordable Care Act
Get to Know the ACA’s Statewide Individual Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: In January 2019, the federal Individual Mandate was effectively eliminated. Many states responded by implementing their own and some of them have both employer and employee penalties …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
California Passes New State-Wide Healthcare Individual Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen5 minute read: In early January, I wrote a blog post titled, “Will 2019 Be the Year for Statewide Individual Health Insurance Mandates?” More and more, it is appearing that …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
CMS Report Shows a Stabilizing ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The latest open enrollment period report for the 2019 plan year from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) shows that the Affordable Care Act marketplace …
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care Act
ACA Compliance Still Confusing to Employers
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen5 minute read: Employers are still confused with how to comply with the Affordable Care Act, and continue to hide their heads in the sand about the real risk of …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Is Maryland the Next State to Approve an Individual Mandate?
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: Maryland is getting closer to a state-wide version of an individual mandate that will encourage state residents to purchase health insurance. A bill in the Maryland legislature, …
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2 minute read: The Affordable Care Act has seemed to turn the corner. On a number of fronts, it appears that the ACA is now being accepted as a beneficial …
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ACA Compliance
ACA Compliance Should Continue Despite Government Shutdown
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: As we enter the third week of government shutdown, we’re on track to surpass the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The shutdown affects many government agencies, including …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Will 2019 be the Year for Statewide Individual Health Insurance Mandates?
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: Since the Trump Administration took office, the ACA has been under fire from the White House and many Congressional Republicans. Legislative repeal of the ACA failed. However, …
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Affordable Care Act
Latest Court Ruling Will Not Stop ACA Enforcement
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: Here we go again. Another attack on the Affordable Care Act that will cause employers to think that the law and its Employer Mandate to provide health …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Insurance Marketplace
More Insurers Will Participate in the ACA Marketplace in 2019
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: It was predicted that the health insurance marketplace would be turned upside down with the individual mandate penalty effectively reduced to $0 beginning January 1,2019. However, that …
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Affordable Care Act
What Employers Need to Know About the ACA (UPDATE)
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen7 minute read: It’s always interesting to look back and see how regulation develops. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is no exception. I wrote a five-part series about the ACA …
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Affordable Care ActElectionHealthcare
Midterm Elections Won’t Affect the Employer Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: Since President Trump took office, a top priority has been to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and his administration continues its attempts to undermine …
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Affordable Care Act
Despite Presidential Rhetoric, ACA Employer Mandate Still Here
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The Trump Administration has been vocal about what it believes are its successful efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At a recent campaign …
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Proposed Farm Bill Another Attempt to Undermine ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: It’s well known that the Trump administration is doing all it can to undermine the Affordable Care Act. The recent decision by the federal Justice Department to …
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Affordable Care Act
Feds Confirm Their Own ACA Emergency Care Cost Guidelines
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen4 minute read: It comes as no surprise that many organizations have had difficulty keeping up with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Whether complying with the regulations under the employer …
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Affordable Care Act
ACA Backlash: Two States Create Their Own Individual Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: The Trump Administration effectively repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate when it made the penalties for an individual not obtaining healthcare $0 beginning 2019. What seemed …
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ACA ReportingAffordable Care ActIRS
IRS Confirms Continued Enforcement of ACA Employer Mandate [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: The evidence continues to mount that the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act is not going away soon, if ever. And the process of the IRS …
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Affordable Care ActHealthcare
ACA and Healthcare Grow in Popularity as Midterms Draw Near
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: Studies show that voters have prioritized healthcare as a top issue to be addressed in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections in November. For the first time in …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
ACA Complexity to Grow as States Develop Their Own Healthcare Solutions [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen5 minute read: The many false starts of the Republican-led effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA), along with the Trump administration’s continued efforts to undermine the healthcare law, …
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Affordable Care ActIRS
More Signs Pointing to Continued IRS Enforcement of the ACA [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs we look forward to the start of spring, all signs are pointing to the IRS continuing its efforts to enforce the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A new wave of …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Insurance Marketplace
2018 Affordable Care Act Enrollment Shows Marketplace Stabilizing
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plan to release a more detailed 2018 enrollment report in March for the recent open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, including …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Masshealth Changes Come With a Hefty Price Tag For Employers [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile healthcare continues to be talked about by the federal government, some state governments are taking steps of their own to shore up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impact on …
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ACA ReportingIRS
Expect IRS to Enforce the ACA’S Individual and Employer Mandates [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe approval of tax reform legislation by Congress may ultimately have an impact on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2019. That’s when the legislation essentially repeals the individual mandate …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Insurance Marketplace
ACA Health Insurance Marketplace May Stabilize In 2018
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt’s been a tumultuous year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). From insurers withdrawing from providing health insurance on government exchanges to spiking premiums in the face of financial losses …
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Affordable Care ActHealthcare
Individual Healthcare Mandate Being Considered in Maryland [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenSenate Republicans added repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate to the Senate’s tax reform bill to save nearly $340 billion in federal funds during the next decade to mitigate increases …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The Affordable Care Act Has Helped Millions, But There’s More Work To Do
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIn 2010, former President Barack Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in an effort to provide more Americans with health coverage. Over the course of its now-nearly eight-year run, …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
As Congress Moves To Remove Individual Mandate, States Seek Their Own Version
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt was a decade ago when Massachusettsimplemented its own individual mandate that required state residents to obtain health insurance or face financial ramifications. Nationwide, that rule became the framework of …
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Affordable Care ActIRS 226J/226-J
Despite Tax Reform, Expect IRS to Enforce the ACA’s Individual and Employer Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe approval of tax reform legislation by Congress may ultimately have an impact on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2019. That’s when the legislation essentially repeals the individual mandate …
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care ActIRS
IRS Extension of Good Faith Relief is Good and Bad News
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs 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 …
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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 …
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Affordable Care ActIRS
The IRS Issues Guidance on the ACA’s Individual Mandate While Congress Looks to Repeal It
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenDuring 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 …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
U.S. Senate Health Committee Works to Reach Consensus With Healthcare Hearings Over
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenCan they reach a bipartisan consensus on fixing healthcare? That’s the question now that the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has completed its hearings on stabilizing …
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Affordable Care Act
State Insurance Commissioners Ask Senators to Continue Subsidy Payments to Insurers
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt was a positive start to what the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hopes will be the start of a successful bipartisan effort to draft legislation …
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ACA ReportingIRS
IRS Reveals 2017 Average National Monthly Premium Needed to Calculate Individual Taxpayer Penalties for ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS has issued the 2017 Average National Monthly Premium of bronze-level qualified health plans for both individuals and shared responsibility families of five or more. That figure is the …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Americans Want a Bipartisan Approach to Healthcare, According to a New KFF Poll
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenNow that the great Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal and replace debate has seemingly ended in Congress, we’ve seen movement by members of Congress towards a bipartisan approach to healthcare …
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IRSTIGTA
2 Reasons Why Employers Should Care About the IRS Individual Mandate Report
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenA recently released report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on IRS notifications in regards to the ACA’s individual mandate has potential implications for employers. TIGTA, at …