For those employers that sponsor a self-insured health plan, it’s important to be aware that the deadline for your 2021 PCORI filing is August 2, 2021. This deadline applies for plan years ending on December 31, 2020 (or any others between October 1, 2020 and October 1, 2021).  If you haven’t yet made your PCORI filing on IRS Form 720, we recommend doing so as soon as possible.

The PCORI fee is an annual fee paid by health insurers and sponsors of self-insured plans that was instituted by the Affordable Care Act to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).  While the annual fee and filing requirement was originally set to expire after 2019, in December 2019 Congress passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 that extended the fee for an additional 10 years through 2029.

The amount of the PCORI fee is determined by multiplying the average number of covered lives under the plan (including those on COBRA) by a specified dollar amount based on the projected amount of per capita national health expenditures.  The applicable multiplier for plan years ending on or after October 1, 2020 and before October 1, 2021 is $2.66 per covered life, as announced in IRS Notice 2020-84.  The fee is payable at the time the Form 720 is filed.  Keep in mind that PCORI fees must be paid from the general assets of plan sponsors.