While we are getting our information in order for the 2016 tax year, we received some clarity on the previous year from the IRS. The IRS’s Commissioner John Koskinen has …
Reports
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
An ACA Repeal Could Cost Hospitals Billions In Losses
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenInauguration Day is inching closer and closer, and so are the policies that President-Elect Trump has planned once he assumes the seat of President this year. A repeal of the …
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Affordable Care ActReporting
Know Your Dates Or Face Penalties: An Infographic
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWe are nearing the end of the 2016 tax year, and with it comes the inevitable document filings come early 2017. As per the ACA, many key dates are mandated …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageTax Filings
ACA Compliance Difficulties? The 1940’s Started it All.
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThis past tax year, many employers experienced a whole new dimension to documenting and reporting information about their employees to the government. With the Affordable Care Act mandating that full-time …
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Affordable Care ActUninsured
Study Shows Millions Of Uninsured Eligible Americans Are Still Underutilizing The ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Kaiser Family Foundation has released another report surrounding ACA figures, and the results are astounding. In a report of “Estimates of Eligibility for ACA Coverage among the Uninsured in …
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IRSTemporary Nondiscrimination Relief
Temporary Nondiscrimination Relief Gets Another Year Extension By IRS
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs Closed Defined Benefit Plans are still being worked out rules-wise, the IRS has provided an extension to an important aspect of qualified plans. In a notice released toward the …
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Affordable Care ActPenaltiesReporting
Potential ACA Penalties: An Infographic
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAre you aware of the myriad of possible unnecessary penalties that can occur with violations of the Affordable Care Act? By now you’ve been informed of various possibilities, but they …
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The IRS has revealed some more drafts for their 2016 reporting forms, and already things have changed. You may recall in an earlier ACA Times article where the topics of …
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The IRS has released the draft Form 1095-C, which clarifies coding for coverage for COBRA. At the start of 2016, the FAQ section of the IRS site no longer provided …
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With ACA reporting deadlines approaching soon, the IRS has issued draft updates to forms 1094-C and 1095-C which large employers must use to report on certain health plan information to …
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Health Care Reform
States Feel Shifts In Medicaid Expansion As New Governors Take Office
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenMedicaid expansion is not a fixed journey, as we’re slowly learning from states like Kentucky and Louisiana. The Wall Street Journal reports a pleasant change in events for the aforementioned …
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Affordable Care ActMinimum Essential Coverage
Minimum Essential Coverage: Looking Ahead Toward 2016 Reporting
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenLet’s call the details of the Affordable Care Act a work in progress, even still. Since its humble 2010 beginnings, the ACA has evolved based upon the needs of (almost) …
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Affordable Care Act
The ACA’s 2016 Reporting Forms Are Changing: View The IRS Drafts
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOver the past two months, the IRS has gradually rolled out ACA reporting forms for 2016. So far? 1094-B and 1095-B have been changed, as well as 1094-C and 1095-C. …
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Affordable Care ActPenalties
SBA Posts New Interim Rule on SBA Loan Review Decisions Under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPenalties are no joking matter when it comes to employers and the Affordable Care Act. A slip up in paperwork, negligence in reporting, or not offering minimum essential coverage to …
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Affordable Care ActForm 1095-CHealth Care Coverage
Understanding Form 1095-C And What To Do About Errors
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenFor many employers,Form 1095-C is a new document. It is the Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage form, used to report that you have offered health care to full-time employees. …
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Affordable Care ActApplicable Large Employer (ALE)
Small Businesses Are Still Not Moved By Health Care Tax Credits, Per Update From The GAO
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenApplicable Large Employers, i.e. those with 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employees, have reluctantly taken to the ACA’s mandate for employer-sponsored health care for its employees. And while …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Despite An Increase In Health Costs, Americans Find Health Care Affordable
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenFor ACA naysayers, one argument posed is that the Affordable Care Act is all but affordable. However a recent study by Gallup suggests that most Americans can afford their health …
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ACA ComplianceHealth Care Coverage
Employers: Keep Your ACA Compliance, Even In Your Health Plan Language
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile employers have been urged to maintain ACA compliance when it comes to reporting the health care information of its employees, there’s more to it. The Employee Retirement Income Security …
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Affordable Care ActPolitical Parties
GOP Senate funds the ACA in 2017 joining Democrats
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt comes as no surprise that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is favored more among Democrats than Republicans. However, perhaps the tides are changing, at least when it comes to …
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care ActHealth Insurance Marketplace
Study Reveals The Health Insurance Marketplace Doesn’t Have The Highest Premiums
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThink the Health Insurance Marketplace has the highest premiums? Think again. A report by the Commonwealth Fund reveals that the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace is not the most expensive place …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Premiums Up, With The Uninsured Down
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt’s been quite a rollercoaster ride for the Affordable Care Act this year, as companies like UnitedHealth have spiked their premiums in an effort to combat what they reportedly found …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Insurance Marketplace
With Bigger Insurance Companies Moving Out, Newer Companies Move In
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWith regard to theAffordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace, it all comes down to options. As major carriers take umbrage with various aspects of the ACA and its Marketplace, many …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Employers Weigh In On Actions In The Event Of An ACA Repeal
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt should come as no surprise that the Affordable Care Act has produced a myriad of opinions from consumers to their employers to those in government. But what would happen …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The Affordable Care Act Shows Big Wins For Kids
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOf all the good theAffordable Care Act has done in the way of widespread health care, a recent report shows that our children have benefitted more than most. United Press …
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Health Care CoveragePolls/Surveys
High Deductibles Don’t Promote Price Shopping
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWill consumers make more cost-effective choices of health services and doctors if they are spending their own money? Common sense suggests they would, but researchers have found that consumers don’t …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Health Benefits Offer Rates: Fact And Figures
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Kaiser Family Foundation released a report that detailed the rates of health benefits offered to individuals. In 1999, 66% of firms offered health benefits to their employees, and that …
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Affordable Care ActMedicaid
Opposition Of Medicaid Expansion Produces Hurdles For States
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIn April of last year, the Center on Budget and Policy Properties (“CBPP”) released a report detailing which states have and have not expanded their Medicaid program to low-income adults …
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Health Care CoveragePrescription Drugs
Drug Makers Continue To Raise Prices
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenDespite criticism from patients, insurers and lawmakers, pharmaceutical companies have continued to increase the cost of drugs, with many hiking prices by 10% or more just before or after the New Year. …
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Affordable Care ActApplicable Large Employer (ALE)
ACA Reporting Deadlines are Approaching
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe IRS has issued a reminder of the deadlines for applicable large employers to file Affordable Care Act information reports, and pointed out that the requirements apply whether or not …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
ACA Is Benefiting Minorities
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThe Affordable Care Act has significantly improved access to healthcare for African-Americans and Latinos, with those groups benefiting slightly more whites, according to a study published in a medical journal. …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageMedicaid/Medicare
Slower Growth in National Health Spending
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPer-capita health care spending grew by 4.5% in 2014, and overall health spending grew by 5.3%, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a slower rates of …
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Most primary care doctors report that the Affordable Care Act has caused no change in their ability to provide quality care, although like the general population their opinions about the …
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The IRS reminded employers, insurance providers and other entities that provide coverage under the Affordable Care Act of their reporting obligations under the ACA and the 2016 deadlines for submitting …
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Affordable Care Act
The ACA Is Not Harming Employment, a Fed Study Says
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenContrary to predictions by critics of the Affordable Care Act prior to itsimplementation, the healthcare law has not caused employers to cut the number of their employees or reduce the …
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With only weeks remaining in 2015, more than half of companies responding to a recent survey say they have not made much progress toward meeting the reporting requirements of the …
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
17.6 Million Have Gained Health Coverage Under the ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs of September 12, an estimated 17.6 million Americans have gained health insurance coverage since enrollment under the Affordable Care Act began in October of 2013, according to the Department …
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As you get ready to file 2015 reports required by the Act, the Internal Revenue has released the final for submitting these reports, along with instructions for them. For reports …
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Affordable Care ActReportingTax Filings
$11 Billion in Credits Paid During Filing Season
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenConsumers who bought individual health insurance coverage through federal and state exchanges received almost $11 billion in premium assistance tax credits in fiscal year 2014, according to a report by …
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Four studies published in mid-August indicate that the Affordable Care Act is achieving its goal of reducing the number of Americans without health insurance while having no negative impact on …
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An increasing amount of medical care is being delivered by nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other non-physician providers, making care more widely available and helping hold down costs, according to …